


Long Lost Second Chance

by pink_nymphia



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Blood Drinking, Blood and Gore, Dehumanization, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Happy Ending, M/M, Mutual Pining, Vampire Hunters, Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-28
Updated: 2018-04-16
Packaged: 2018-08-27 11:42:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 80,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8400337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pink_nymphia/pseuds/pink_nymphia
Summary: Lance is a vampire hunter. But one night, he meets a vampire who challenges what he knows about the monsters he hunts. Forming a relationship with Keith throws him into the gray reality that exists beneath the world’s black and white exterior.





	1. Change of Routine

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn’t help it. I love vampire AUs and I was just playing around with ideas in my head until it ended up becoming this story. 
> 
> Lance is a vampire hunter. So are Pidge, Hunk, Shiro, Allura and Coran. Keith is a vampire along with Sendak, Haggar, Zarkon and Haxus. I’ll try to add tags/warnings as needed, but if anyone has any specific ones they want me to add, please just let me know and I’ll add them.

-

 

Lance no longer got nervous when he went out on patrols on his own. This was because, for one, he’d been doing it for years now and he was pretty confident in his ability to survive encounters with your average vampire. And two, despite being in the city, some nights he wouldn’t even _have_ a single encounter. The hunter organization that he was a part of claimed that this was a more recent development and was likely due to some kind of organization forming among the bloodsuckers, but all it meant for Lance was that some nights were uneventful and uninteresting. It was barely past sunset, but he had a feeling that this night was going to follow that same pattern. That is, until two kids came bolting out of an alley and down the street that he was walking.

 

“Mister! Please you gotta help!” one of them shouted, clearly shaken. They ran up to him and both grabbed onto his jacket desperately.

 

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” he reassured them. “You’re going to be okay, I’ll keep you safe. Did someone attack you?”

 

“He was really big! Really scary lookin’!”

 

“It was a vampire, I know it was a vampire! You gotta believe us!” the children, both no older than twelve, answered at the same time.

 

Lance knelt down to get at their eye level and put his hands on their shoulders. “I believe you. And you came to the right guy because I happen to be a hunter,” he added with a smile. “Do you two live around here? I can make sure you get home safe-”

 

“You gotta go back!” they interrupted. “There’s someone still with it! A boy -he helped us get away. Please, you gotta help him!”

 

The hunter bit his lip, contemplating his decision. He looked around at the streets that were still relatively full of people and then back at the kids. “Will you both be okay getting back on your own?” The kids nodded, but the idea still made him nervous. He would rather make sure they got home, but that would mean risking this other boy’s life. _If he was even still alive_ , a voice in the back of his head reminded him. He took a deep breath. “Okay, how about you guys give me your home phone numbers, yeah? I’ll call later to make sure you both got home all right.”

 

After deciding that that was all he could do for now, he ran back down the way the two had directed him. From their description, it seemed like the attack was only about a block away, but every second counted in situations like these so he ran as fast as he could.

 

When he got to his destination, his heart nearly stopped at the sight. The alleyway was empty except for a small figure slumped against the wall, unmoving. As he stepped closer he noticed all of the blood. Splatters on the wall and a large pool surrounding who he assumed must have been the boy who saved the two kids. His throat felt tight as he knelt in front of the boy. He certainly looked dead, his face was so pale it appeared almost a pale grey in the dark alleyway, and the blood loss alone seemed like enough to kill him. But when he checked for a pulse, he was surprised to find one.

 

Not wanting to waste another second, he quickly examined the boy’s body –searching for the sources of the bleeding. He had to try to stop the bleeding now or there was no way he was going to make it to the hospital alive. The boy in the hoodie couldn’t have been much older than himself –looking to be in his early twenties. Black hair that extended to his shoulders was a stark contrast against his pale skin.

 

“Hey,” he tapped the boy’s cheek softly. “Can you hear me? I can help you a lot better if you wake up. Hey.” Not getting an immediate response, he went back to searching for the source of the pool of blood that he was now kneeling in.

 

Hearing a small groan ignited a spark of hope from within the hunter as he began tapping the boy’s cheeks once more. “Hey, hey,” he repeated softly. “I need you to try to talk to me, can you do that?”

 

“…what..?” the stranger’s voice was weak and scratchy, but it was _something_.

 

“Hey,” he cupped the boy’s cheek gently with a bloody hand. “You’re gonna be okay, I just need you to help me out here, okay?”

 

Then the boy’s eyes slowly opened and Lance felt the color leave his face.

 

Shit. _Shit._

 

The boy’s pupils were mere slits in the otherwise violet eyes. He was a vampire -specifically, a vampire who was currently low on blood. _Double-shit._

 

Lance pulled his hand away and slowly created more space between them. The boy –the vampire- was still very dazed and merely stared at the hunter in confusion.

 

Lance, meanwhile, was lost in his whirlwind of thoughts. He briefly wondered if the boy had just now been Turned, but scratched that possibility out as he remembered how feral newly Turned vampires acted. Which then led to the thought of ‘why the hell would a vampire risk his life to save a couple of kids’? And then immediately followed by ‘what the hell do I do with such a vampire’? It appeared too weak to even put up a fight, and Lance knew that as a hunter he should take advantage of that and just get rid of it while the opportunity was there, but yet…

 

Why did the thought of doing that feel so _wrong_?

 

Maybe taking it back to your apartment wasn’t the best idea either though, he thought as he stared at his bed that was now occupied by an unconscious, bloodthirsty vampire.

 

-

 

After searching his hunting supply boxes in his closet, he was able to find a single shackle strong enough to restrain a vampire. _Better than nothing_ , he supposed as he secured the shackle around one of the vampire’s wrists and attached it to the metal bed frame. Then he left the room to make two very important phone calls.

 

Once he confirmed that both kids had made it back to their homes safely, he finally allowed himself time to breathe. A strong vampire was out on the streets attacking children and there was a hungry vampire sleeping in his bedroom, but at least the two kids from earlier had made it back. And it helped that the vampire in his apartment was still very weak -a small comfort.

 

He just finished making himself a cup of coffee when he heard a crash from his bedroom. And it didn’t take two guesses to figure out what could have caused it. He took out his knife as he slowly pushed the cracked door open and walked inside. The vampire, not surprisingly, was awake and was pulling at its restraint.

 

“Yeah, I don’t think you’re gonna manage to break that in your condition,” Lance said, as he leaned against the doorframe.

 

The vampire just narrowed its eyes and glared at him.

 

“Hey, maybe try being a bit thankful. I could have let you bleed out in that alleyway or killed you myself, but did I? No, I saved your damn life,” he said. “So, you’re welcome.”

 

“Why didn’t you?” the vampire narrowed its eyes at him once more, whether it was out of suspicion or just general confusion, Lance wasn’t sure. “Why didn’t you kill me? Isn’t that your _job_?”

 

“Well, yeah,” Lance answered lamely. “I just…”

 

The vampire raised an eyebrow with an otherwise uninterested expression.

 

“Look, _you_ ,” the hunter interjected. “I don’t need to tell you my reasons for anything. Just be thankful that I haven’t killed you yet. You’re. Welcome.”

 

“So, you don’t have an actual reason for keeping me alive and you have no idea what you’re doing. Good to know.”

 

This time it was Lance who glared at the vampire, but as no decent comeback came to mind, he instead abruptly turned around and left the room.

 

“Save a bloodsucker’s life and you’d think they’d be a bit grateful. But, _no_. No, I get stuck with an ungrateful, smart-ass who gets blood all over my nice sheets,” he muttered to himself as he walked down the hall.

 

-

 

The next time he went into the room, however, the vampire wasn’t feeling as up to conversation as before. The hunter went in just to check on the bandages, but found his guest looking much more vulnerable than he had earlier. Lance assumed that its need for blood was catching up to it. Its eyes were unfocused and glassy and he didn't even have to get up close to see that the vampire was panting and had broken out into some sort of sickly sweat. He had never seen a vampire look so sick before. Usually he saw them in either good health or the sort of bloodlust that just made them more animalistic –not downright ill. How much blood had this one lost? He tried to think back to the pool around it in the alley.

 

Shit, he needed blood now. _It,_ he corrected himself. Either that or he just had to dispose of it already.

 

_Dispose._

Why did that seem so harsh when it came to this vampire?

 

“Hey,” Lance said, his voice barely above a whisper. Even though the restraint was still in tact, he approached the bed slowly. The vampire barely flinched. “Um, so I’m guessing that, well, you are probably hungry, right? I don’t exactly keep blood stocked in my fridge, but I have water, will that help at all? Or maybe some coffee? A juice box?”

 

The vampire didn’t even seem to acknowledge him. It just continued to breathe heavily and stare in front of him. Lance couldn’t help but to pity the creature. He –it- seemed to be in pain, but wasn’t even trying to lash out and take what it needed. Did it know that it was too weak to try or was it refusing to even try to attack him? The hunter kept thinking about the kids from earlier. He couldn’t deny that he had a soft spot for kids. Maybe it was from growing up in a large family, he wasn’t sure. But because of that soft spot, he kept thinking about how this vampire had saved two innocent lives. Maybe it wasn’t even its intention, but the result was still the same.

 

“Damn it!” he cursed as he pulled off his jacket. He threw it aside and pulled his knife out of his back pocket. “Please don’t make me regret this, mullet.”

 

The vampire looked up at Lance –simply due to the loud exclamation rather than the words themselves. When it saw the hunter holding the knife, its dazed expression softened into something that tugged at Lance’s heart. It looked …accepting. He realized that the vampire must think he’s going to kill it and its response was acceptance.

 

_Well, too bad because today I’m letting you live,_ Lance said to himself.

 

He carefully cut into his lower arm and watched as blood began to trickle down to his wrist. At either the sight or the smell of this, the vampire’s eyes widened. It began jerking at the restraint and making some sort of whining sound.

 

Having pity on the beast, Lance sat on the side of the bed and extended his arm out. The vampire surprised him by meeting his eyes as it took hold of his arm. It was as if it was asking for permission. Unsure of what to do, Lance just nodded and this seemed to be enough for the vampire because it immediately pulled the hunter’s arm closer and began desperately lapping up the trail of blood and then proceeded to suck at the wound itself. Lance watched in fascination as the vampire fed. It wasn’t violent or feral at all, but rather, just _desperate_. He wondered if maybe there actually were vampires out there that didn’t get any pleasure out of killing, but just ate to survive and that was it. He wondered if maybe the one in his home was like that.

 

The hunter was pulled away from his thoughts as the vampire looked up at him with those eyes again. He still looked so sick –so desperate. “Um, was that not enough?” he asked, hesitantly. The vampire looked away and bit his lip. Lance found himself mirroring the vampire, biting his own lip as he contemplated what to do.

 

“Here,” he finally decided. The vampire looked up at him with uncertainty. Lance simply smiled as he scooted closer. “It’s fine, you’re a lot more, uh, gentle than I expected, so I… um, I’m gonna trust you, okay? Just… don’t take too much. Please.”

 

The vampire seemed confused –or maybe it was shock, Lance thought. After a minute of just staring at each other, the hunter took action. He carefully pulled the vampire closer and guided its head to the skin between his neck and his shoulder. “Just not too much, okay?”

 

He could feel the vampire shaking, but wasn’t sure if it was due to the need for blood or the hesitance it seemed to be feeling. He guided its head closer again and this it time complied. When he felt the fangs dig into his skin, his whole body tensed, but he was quickly able to focus on breathing evenly. It would be better if he didn’t pass out in front of a vampire, regardless of how hesitant he –it?- was to feed. Thankfully, after the initial bite, it actually didn’t hurt much. That’s not to say though that he didn’t still feel a bit lightheaded by the time the vampire was done. But he would take being lightheaded over being sucked to the bone any day.

 

“Well, you are definitely looking better than before,” he finally said, trying to mask his need for something hydrating. The vampire nodded.

 

“…Thank you.”

 

Lance’s eyes widened, surprised by how genuine the vampire sounded. “Oh. Um, yeah, no prob.”

 

Then he made the mistake of trying to stand up too soon. The hunter’s vision swirled and he had to catch himself with the edge of the bed. The vampire looked surprised and quickly tried to jump out of the bed to help, forgetting about the restraint still attached to the bed frame.

 

They both lay there for a moment -both of them in very uncomfortable positions on the floor against the side of the bed. Then they met each other’s eyes and Lance couldn’t help but to smile.

 

“Guess neither of us are very bright, huh?” he joked. The vampire responded with a small, but honest smile.

 

In that moment, Lance decided on ‘he’.

 

-

 


	2. So, Now What?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance continues to surprise both himself and his vampire guest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is very dialogue heavy, I hope that's okay ;;

-

 

“You talk a lot,” the vampire, Keith, said. He was currently digging through Lance’s fridge. He took a whiff of a milk carton and coughed in disgust. Though he wasn’t sure if the milk was expired or if just smelled bad to him. Most foods did, after all.

 

“It’s called being sociable –being _friendly_ ,” Lance shot back with a mouth full of food and a goofy smile on his face. There was no real venom in his words as he spoke. “You should try it sometime.”

 

Keith just rolled his eyes. “Are you aware that there’s an empty carton of eggs in your refrigerator? At some point you took out the last egg and literally put an empty carton back in.”

 

“Well at least I don’t rummage through other people’s refrigerators.”

 

“I’m willing to bet that that’s a lie.”

 

“True. Okay, how about, at least I don’t rummage through the refrigerators of people I just met. Better?”

 

“Debatable.”

 

Lance shrugged and took another large bite of his food.

 

“I’m glad you are doing better though,” the vampire’s voice was softer now. “I’m sorry I took too much…”

 

“No, you’re fine,” Lance reassured him. “I didn’t even pass out or anything. I just got a bit dizzy, that’s all.” Keith didn’t look entirely convinced, but settled for a small pout before turning back to the open refrigerator. “Do you see anything in there that you think you could eat?”

 

“No, but I wasn’t expecting to. Everything I’ve tried since I was Turned has tasted bad. Plus, to be honest, even if I did find something, I don’t know how much it’d help with the hunger. Thanks for the offer though.”

 

The hunter poked at his food for a moment before speaking the question on his mind. “How long ago were you Turned?”

 

The vampire’s shoulders dropped and he was quiet for a minute. “Going on six years, I think. I’m not exactly sure.” And then he added, “Why?”

 

“I was just wondering, I guess,” he took a sip of his drink. “I mean, I’ve never actually sat down and talked with a vampire over dinner, you know?”

 

Keith gave him a look as he walked over and pulled out a stool so he could sit across from him at the counter. Lance took that as a cue to continue talking.

 

“I mean, to be honest, I’ve barely talked with a vampire at all. We don’t usually make conversation when we are trying to kill each other, which is understandable, I guess. But, I don’t know, it’s just… you’re so _human_. Now that your eyes look normal, I don’t think I’d even be able to tell that you are a vampire. Well, unless I got a glimpse of your fangs or something –but my _point_ is that you seem really human and I guess I’m just surprised.”

 

“I was human though…” Keith said with his eyes fixated on the countertop. “I used to be, for the first sixteen years of my life. You don’t just forget about all of it once it’s taken from you.”

 

“Oh,” the hunter said. “I guess I didn’t really think about it that way.”

 

Keith just shrugged. “I’m not blaming you or anything. When I was human, I didn’t think about it either. And I’m not defending vampires, either. Just from personal experience, I’d say most of them deserve to be seen as monsters. Maybe even all of them. But there’s a difference between a monster and a feral animal.”

 

Lance could only nod. It was so fascinating to get a vampire’s perspective on things. He couldn’t help but to wonder just how much he didn’t know about their world. He didn’t miss Keith’s implication though.

 

“I don’t think you’re a monster,” he stated without any hesitance. The vampire seemed at a loss for words for a brief moment, not expecting Lance’s response.

 

“Only because you don’t know me,” Keith finally replied before quickly moving the subject along and away from himself. “The worst vampires though are the ones who even other vampires consider ‘monsters’. Ones like Zarkon.”

 

“Zarkon? Is he a pack leader?”

 

“Not a pack, more like a coven. He’s a pureblood who basically runs the city.”

 

“Wait, he runs all of the vampires in the city? _This_ city? I don’t think I’ve even heard his name before.”

 

“Apparently he used to have some shit about not wanting people to speak his name, but once he gained more power, I guess he realized that it didn’t really matter.”

 

“Wait a second, he’s not the one who attacked you tonight, was he?”

 

“No, the night would have had a very different outcome if that were him. But you’re right in that there’s a connection. The one from tonight was one of his higher-ups. His name is Sendak.”

 

“Hold on!” Lance said as he jumped out of his seat and began scrambling for a pen and notepad. “Sendak, you said? And the top guy is Zarkon, right?”

 

Keith nodded, slightly amused by Lance’s enthusiasm. “Yeah. And then the only other name I have aside from them is Haggar. She’s Zarkon’s right hand nowadays, I think.”

 

“Nowadays?”

 

The vampire bit his bottom lip, regretting his choice in words. “Yeah, she… she wasn’t originally so high up, or at least I don’t think so. I’m not sure, to be honest. I just knew her before and at the time she didn’t seem very interested in Zarkon himself, but then again, that doesn’t necessarily mean anything, I guess.”

 

“How’d you know her?” Lance seemed eager to know, but his voice this time was softer. Keith wondered if it was because he already had a good guess.

 

“She’s the one who Turned me.”

 

“Oh.” Lance’s voice was quieter than Keith had ever heard it.

 

“Like Zarkon and Sendak, she’s a pureblood, so she has the ability to Turn. And I was… just unlucky I guess. I think at the time, they were just trying to gain more people. Power in numbers or some shit. She forcibly kept me with her for a while when I was still a Newborn –not that I would have known where to go anyway. The vampires under her made sure I was fed enough that I was kept alive, but not enough to keep me from being hungry and disoriented. Undoubtedly, this was meant to keep me under their control, but I was lucky enough to get away.”

 

“I didn’t know they called people who were just Turned ‘Newborns’.”

 

“Out of everything I said, _that’s_ what you are focused on?”

 

Lance laughed, “It’s like a cool little vampire fun-fact!”

 

“Are you sure you’re actually a hunter?” Keith sighed.

 

“One hundred percent! I’m skilled, talented, beautiful –the people love me.”

 

“Uh-huh. I wouldn’t add ‘intelligent’ to that list though.”

 

“Okay, first of all, rude.”

 

“You willingly brought a vampire into your house.”

 

“Yeah, and he isn’t respectful of my things. Oh, and he’s a bit rude, too.”

 

“I could have killed you. Hell, I could be planning to kill you now.”

 

“Are you?”

 

“What?” Keith blinked.

 

“Are you planning to kill me?”

 

“Well, no. But-”

 

“See? I have nothing to worry about,” Lance said, casually turning his attention back to his meal.

 

“You’re only proving my point,” he grumbled. “You’re careless and-” He was interrupted by the hunter’s phone vibrating on the counter.

 

“Hey, Hunk,” he answered, smiling across the counter. Keith just rolled his eyes. “Yeah, so you got the text I sent you, right?”

 

“About the vampire roaming around? Yeah, I poked around the area, but didn’t see anything strange. Well, except for an alleyway on 33rd that was covered, and I mean, _covered,_ in blood. Please tell me that wasn’t you. If you’re downplaying your injuries again, Lance, I swear-” Hunk warned.

 

“No, no, I’m fine, I promise. Completely-” he looked down at his bandaged forearm. “Almost completely unharmed, actually. The blood there isn’t mine.” The hunter noticed Keith tensing in his peripheral.

 

“Was it the vampire’s then?”

 

“Uhh,” he glanced at Keith again. “I don’t really know the details. The blood was just there when I got there.”

 

“Hmm.” Lance recognized Hunk’s tone. He knew that that was his ‘I know you aren’t telling me the whole story and I’m going to let it drop for now but you better tell me what’s going on later’ tone.

 

“So how is patrol going tonight?”

 

Hunk sighed, but allowed the change in subject. “It’s fine, just really quiet, you know? I expected something after you sent me that message, but nope! It’s as quiet as ever, it’s strange.”

 

“That is pretty strange actually.”

 

“Yeah. Are you back at your apartment?”

 

“Yeah, I turned in early for the night ‘cause,” Lance paused. “Because of my injury. It’s just a cut, but figured I’d take care of it and then, before I knew it, it was three in the morning. Kind of don’t feel like going back out now just for a few hours of nothing.”

 

“I don’t blame you, man. Maybe you should get some rest and I’ll come by later this afternoon to check on whatever you managed to do to yourself this time.”

 

“Er, that’s fine, I’m fine honestly. It’s literally just a scratch. But maybe you can come over tomorrow and we can discuss things then instead, how about that? I got some good info that I want to show you.”

 

“You sure? I guess that’s fine. You better not be lying about that cut though.”

 

“Cross my heart,” Lance said with a cheeky grin.

 

“You know that doesn’t convince me. But, fine. I’ll talk to you later, man.”

 

“Okay, see ya.” As soon as he hung up, Lance deflated in his seat. “Phew.”

 

“I don’t get you,” Keith said. “Now you’re lying to your friend for me?”

 

“Well, also for myself,” he admitted. “Hunk tends to call me out on my shit and if he found out that I took you in… well, he’d call me out on my shit. And probably be very mad at me.”

 

“For good reason.”

 

“You really don’t have any sense of self-preservation, do you?” After Keith didn’t respond, Lance decided to change the subject. “Well, I’m guessing you probably still aren’t feeling one hundred percent and it’s getting close to sunrise so I’m going to cover the window in my room and you can sleep there for today.”

 

Keith stood up in surprise, “What? Are you crazy? I can’t just stay over!”

 

“Why not?” Lance asked, unfazed. He put his dishes in the sink and then walked down the hall to his bedroom. Keith followed impatiently.

 

“Because! Are you forgetting-”

 

“That you’re ‘an evil vampire that’s going to kill me once I turn my back’?” he raised an eyebrow. “Despite ignoring perfectly convenient opportunities to do so ‘til now and the fact that your movements are still slow and you’re hiding a limp in your left leg _and_ the fact that you seem more worried about my life than I even am.”

 

Keith didn’t even know how to respond. Instead, he just stood there gaping like a fish until giving up on finding the words completely.

 

“So, as I was saying,” Lance cheerfully added. “You can take my room.”

 

-

 

Keith began to wonder if maybe he had died in that alleyway earlier. It made more sense than his current situation being real.

 

First, he was spared by a vampire hunter and then said hunter takes him back to his home and treats the gashes on his chest and stomach. Then the hunger sets in and he becomes more disoriented, but he distinctly remembers said (stupid) hunter letting him drink blood from him. The idiot _willingly_ let him drink his blood. And if that wasn’t enough, he then undoes the restraint and lets him roam free around the apartment. He offered to make him a meal, _lied for him_ and insisted on letting him stay for the day hours. The vampire also got to take a shower –his first time in an actual shower in a very long time- in this (stupid) hunter’s home. And now he gets to sleep in a warm bed in warm (borrowed) pajamas in a warm apartment.

 

This being death or some kind of vivid dream definitely made more sense.

 

“Okay, that should keep the sun out,” Lance said, sealing the last piece of cardboard over the window. If there’s a hole somewhere or something, you can either use the ducktape or grab me and I’ll get it, okay?”

 

Keith could only nod. If he learned one thing from the past hour and a half, it was that if Lance set his mind to something then he was going to have his way. Hence, why the vampire was wearing blue pajama bottoms that were so soft that they had to be made of silk. Keith decided that this human was too nice and hospitable for his own good.

 

“Okay, well I’ll check in on you to check your bandages around sunset, okay? I don’t have patrol duty tonight so I’m not gonna be in any rush. And yeah, so, uh, good night, I guess? Or good …day? How do vampires say ‘goodnight’?”

 

Keith pulled the blanket over his head and groaned, which only amused Lance further. The hunter just laughed and closed the door behind him.

 

Despite everything, that morning he slept better than he had in years. He woke up on his own hours later and felt well rested enough to get out of bed. He looked at the clock reading two in the afternoon and sighed. He knew that he should be going soon –or even should have left before sunrise- but now there was a part of him that almost didn’t want to leave. Perhaps Lance spoiled him too much.

 

Keith was well aware of what he was. He was a vampire. Vampires are monsters. And monsters don’t get to spend time with nice human boys with cute laughs and too many types of shampoo in the bathroom. That’s not how things worked. Keith was well aware of that, but still found himself wanting to take something from Lance’s room for the sole purpose of keeping his scent with him.

 

Fuck.

_What had he gotten himself into?_

-

 

Lance was sleeping on his couch when the sound of his phone buzzing beside him woke him up. Before he even finished reading the “im here” message lighting up his screen, there was already knocking on his front door.

 

“Dammit, Hunk!” he cursed under his breath. Though he cursed himself for not considering this as a possibility. Hunk was always good at knowing when he was lying or hiding something. He opened the door with a scowl.

 

“I was sleeping, Hunk!” he paused. “Oh. Hey, Pidge. Wait, why are you here too? _Hunk_!”

 

“Look, man. I worry about you, like, a lot, okay? And that’s on a normal day. Then when you start acting all ‘fishy’, that increases my anxiety like tenfold. Do you remember the time that you passed out from blood loss _while on the phone with me_ , trying to convince me that you were fine and not about to pass out from blood loss? Because I remember that. And the time where you-”

 

“Okay, okay. I see your point. But this time, I honestly am fine. I swear.”

 

“Well, if you’re fine then we might as well make use of the time while we’re here,” Pidge added, going ahead and walking into the apartment and taking a seat on the couch. They pulled out their laptop and placed it on the coffee table. “Let’s hear that info you got then.”

 

“Can I see the cut you got first? I need to be convinced that it’s actually just a cut,” Hunk added, walking inside as well.

 

“Oh, yeah, guys, just make yourselves at home,” Lance complained.

 

“Thanks. Can you grab me a soda while you’re still up?” Pidge added with a smirk.

 

“I can’t believe you two…” Lance grabbed some drinks from the kitchen and walked back over to where Pidge and Hunk were sitting on the couch. He was about to give in and sit back down as well when he was hit with a thought: Keith. The vampire was probably still asleep and wouldn’t leave the room until sunset but it’s not like he _couldn’t_ leave the room. What if he had to use the bathroom? Did _vampires have to use the bathroom_ , he wondered, getting off topic.

 

The sun also didn’t necessarily stop him either. Vampires didn’t burst into flames in the sunlight like the myths said –it just burns them slightly, like a bad case of sunburn, so they avoid it. The hunter debated whether or not to go in and tell him to stay in the room. Or maybe he could slip a note under the door?

 

However, the problem evolved before he could figure out what to do. A small crash echoed from down the hall and Lance hoped for the tiny, unlikely possibility that neither of his friends had heard it.

 

They heard it.

 

“What was that?” Hunk asked, suspicious. Pidge just looked over at Lance with a raised eyebrow and their usual shit-eating grin.

 

“You have something you wanna tell us?” Pidge asked.

 

-


	3. Secrets are Hard to Keep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Secrets and assumptions lead everyone into a messy situation.

-

 

Keith cursed his bad luck. He was just trying to take a look at a specific book that caught his eye, but managed to knock down the small stack that was piled nearby on the outer half of the shelf. He felt guilty knowing that he probably woke Lance up. What the vampire didn’t know was that he did a lot more than that. He heard footsteps coming down the hall. He figured that Lance was probably just checking to make sure everything was okay rather than expecting the reason to be his vampire guest snooping through his things and knocking books over. Not wanting to be more than a burden than he was sure he already was, Keith opened the door himself to apologize.

 

“I’m sorry, Lance, I’m fine. I just knocked something over when I-” he stopped as he noticed that he wasn’t talking Lance, but rather, a smaller human with messy hair and glasses. His heart pounded in his chest and his eyes were wide with fear as he quickly searched the hall for a pair of familiar blue eyes –though he wasn’t sure at what point they became ‘familiar’ or why he remembered clearly that they were a calm, deep blue.

 

He met eyes with Lance –who also looked extremely worried- and noticed another human standing beside him. The vampire only became more anxious as he wondered just how many humans, presumably all hunters, were in the apartment. If he were thinking logically, he would have just tried to appear calm and say ‘hello’. Maybe they wouldn’t even figure out that he was a vampire. But in that moment, Keith’s mind was static and all that he managed to say was “…fuck.”

 

Thankfully Lance was better in these sorts of situations that he was.

 

“Keith! Hey, I hope we didn’t wake you up. _Some_ _people_ ,” he paused, making a point to look at both Hunk and Pidge, “like to come over uninvited without warning. We won’t bother you though if you want to get more sleep.”

 

Keith was frozen in shock. He wanted to go along with Lance’s lead, but his thoughts were still swirling and he couldn’t find the right words to say.

 

Lance felt bad for the vampire. It was clear how anxious he was.

 

“Keith, um, these are my friends. This is Pidge and over here is Hunk,” he walked over to where his guest still stood frozen in the doorway. He tried to give him a reassuring smile as he stood next to him. He whispered a quiet “it’s okay”, before turning back to face the other two hunters. “Guys, this is Keith. I met him last night after he was attacked by a vampire. He’s still a bit shaken up from it.”

 

The vampire glanced at Lance before shifting his gaze onto the floor. He still couldn’t find his voice.

 

“Aw man, we’re sorry we barged in like this,” Hunk spoke up first. “We didn’t know that you were here.” He turned to look at Pidge, silently asking for their input as well.

 

“Yeah, we thought we were just bothering Lance,” Pidge added. “But we didn’t mean to startle you.”

 

Keith paused to digest their words before nodding. Lance gave him a small smile.

 

“If you wanna go back in the room, you can. I’ll come back and check on you later, okay?” the hunter said, his words soft. Keith nodded again and went back into Lance’s bedroom, closing the door behind him.

 

Back in the living room, Hunk and Pidge apologized.

 

“You could have told us you brought a victim back with you though,” Hunk said, not in an accusatory tone, but rather a sympathetic one.

 

“I know,” Lance said, but his mind kept thinking back to Keith’s face. He had looked so _scared._ The hunter wondered if it wasn’t even just because they were hunters. He wondered if Keith was just anxious around people. Lance realized he had been spacing out when he noticed that his friends’ sympathetic expressions had turned mischievous. Before he could say anything, Pidge spoke first.

 

“He was wearing your pajamas,” they snickered. He felt his face heating up at the implication.

 

“Wait a second,” he tried to interject, but he was shut down by Hunk’s knowing look.

 

“It’s fine, we’re not judging you or anything,” Hunk grinned.

 

“It’s not like that, guys. I really was just giving him a place to stay for the night.”

 

“Sure, whatever you say,” Pidge said, pulling their laptop back up. “So, in other news, you said you got some information?”

 

Lance sighed, giving up on trying to convince them that he had not, in fact, slept with Keith. He figured at the very least it was better that they thought that than thought –knew- that he was a vampire. “Yeah, yeah. Hold on.”

 

After sharing the information Keith had given him, the group was quiet. Assuming that the organization didn’t already know any of this and just kept it hidden from most of the hunters, then this was a strong lead.

 

“What do you think his goal is though? Just to control the ‘vampire underworld’?” Hunk asked.

 

“Who knows. I mean, he seems like a nasty guy, so for all I know he’s planning world domination,” Lance said, leaning back in his chair.

 

“So the one from last night is this ‘Sendak’, right?” Pidge pondered. “Why would a high-ranking vampire attack someone, but not kill them? Even if it were just to feed, it’s strange that he wouldn’t completely drain him, you know? I’m not saying I’m not glad that the guy survived, but it’s just fishy. Did he intend to have a witness for some purpose? But then if that’s the case, could he even be hoping that we go after him? Maybe he _wanted_ you to get this information, Lance. This could be more dangerous than we know.”

 

“Was Keith the one who gave you this information?” Hunk asked. “How did he get it?”

 

“Er, Sendak was apparently saying all of these things about their group. Maybe it is some kind of a trap, I don’t know,” Lance lied. He hated lying to his friends and that felt like all he was doing today.

 

“I don’t know… Things just don’t seem to be adding up,” Pidge said, tapping a pen against their cheek.

 

Lance bit his lip nervously. He wished that he had been given more time to prepare his story. He was given a break from their brainstorming, however, when they heard the bedroom door open. He watched as Keith nervously made his way down the hall into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water –probably not even to drink, but just for show. He glanced over at Lance, trying to silently ask him to come over to where he was. Thankfully, the hunter got the message.

 

“Hey, you feeling better?” he asked as he walked into the kitchen. The kitchen area in his apartment had no windows so, unlike the living room where the group was sitting, it was void of any sunlight shining in.

 

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that,” the vampire spoke softly.

 

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it,” Lance reassured him. He patted the other boy’s back gently and Keith felt what little blood that he did have rush to his cheeks at the touch. He mentally kicked himself for it. “Do you want me to bring them over here or I can just let them know you’re okay, either way is fine.” And then in a hushed tone he added, “They don’t know. But either way, I won’t let them hurt you. Don’t worry.”

 

“Okay,” he said after minute in thought. “You can bring them here.”

 

Lance brought his two friends into the kitchen and gave Keith room to speak. He apologized to them for freezing up and they reassured him that it was fine.

 

“We’re the ones who shouldn’t have surprised you like that,” Hunk said.

 

“Yeah, we’re really sorry about that. Maybe we can start over?” Pidge smiled. “I’m Pidge. It’s nice to meet you.”

“And I’m Hunk. I hope we can be friends. A friend of Lance is a friend of ours, you know?”

 

When he noticed the vampire’s lip shaking, Lance’s heart broke. All he wanted to do in that moment was wrap his arms around him and tell him that he could stay as long as he wanted. He wanted to tell him that he didn’t care that he was vampire. Somehow, without realizing it, he had stopped caring about that even before all of this. And now seeing Keith fighting off tears simply at being called a friend made him want to make sure the other boy knew that.

 

The tightness in Keith’s chest slowly unfurled as they made light conversation. He was glad that all he had to do was listen and nod as Lance’s friends laughed and dove into anecdotes about Lance’s embarrassing moments, much to the other boy’s dismay. He only tensed up again when Pidge casually asked if he wanted to go out and sit in the living room instead. He knew that he said ‘no’ way too quickly as Pidge looked at him curiously.

 

“I mean,” he tried to repair his mistake. “I, uh, I should check on my bandages first.” He wondered if he could buy enough time until sunset. He wished he knew what time it was.

 

“Do you want any help with that? I’m good with that kind of thing,” Hunk added. “Speaking of which, Lance, I still need to check your cut too.”

 

“I’m fine, remember?” Lance said, nervously trying to brush him off.

 

“I’m not taking ‘no’ for an answer,” Hunk declared. “Both of you, to the bathroom. Now.”

 

“Oh no, you’ve unleashed “The Mom”,” Pidge snickered.

 

While Lance was glad that Keith’s wounds were healing nicely, it made him nervous that they were healing extremely quickly. It was normal for a vampire, but not for an apparent ordinary human who got caught up in a vampire attack. He wondered if maybe he could convince them that the wounds weren’t that bad to begin with. One look at Pidge, however, told him that it might be a bit more difficult than that. His friend was looking at Keith’s gashes with a look that Lance could only describe as ‘skeptical’.

 

“They seem to be healing really well,” Hunk said as he finished putting on a fresh set of bandages. _That’s an understatement,_ Lance thought to himself. “Now, it’s your turn, Lance. I already told you that I’m not backing down until I see it.”

 

The hunter hesitated, but then merely sighed before lifting up the sleeve of his sweatshirt. Hunk carefully removed the bandage and took a closer look at the cut.

 

“Is that everything or are you still hiding something?” he asked. Lance assured him that it was only the one cut, but Hunk insisted that he take off his sweatshirt and let him at least check his arms and sides.

 

Thinking about the bandaged bite by his shoulder, Lance attempted again to get out of the situation. “I swear I’m fine, you don’t need to check me all over, okay?”

 

Hunk only crossed his arms and waited, unmoving. Pidge sighed, “Just let Hunk take a look. You know he’s not gonna to stop asking.”

 

Lance took a deep breath and then pulled off his sweatshirt. He had a T-shirt on underneath, but the bandage poked out.

 

“I _knew_ you were hiding another injury!” Hunk exclaimed. “Jeez, Lance, why don’t you just let us help you? We let you help us –it’s supposed to work both ways.”

 

Hunk signaled for Lance to take his shirt off and, with a sigh, he did. He braced himself for the inevitable, but still winced when Hunk nearly shouted as he pulled off the dirty bandage.

 

“You were _BITTEN_?”

 

“Fucking shit, Lance,” Pidge added, gracefully.

 

“See? This, _this!_ This is why I insist on checking. Because he always pretends that he’s not injured, but then he passes out from blood loss while I’m still on the phone with him!” Hunk was quickly digging through Lance’s cabinet for supplies to clean the wound.

 

“That was one time, Hunk!” Lance argued. “And I’m _fine._ I cleaned it out and everything. I’m. Fine.”

 

“Sit,” Hunk ordered. Lance knew better than to try to refuse.

 

“I thought you said that the vampire didn’t get to you,” Pidge narrowed their eyes at Lance.

 

“Yeah, it, I mean…” he stumbled.

 

“And how could you have ‘not gotten a close look’ when he was feeding from your neck?” Pidge pressed.

 

“Why did you insist on hiding this?” Hunk added. “If you just let us fix you up from the start-”

 

“Ow!”

 

“Sorry.”

 

“Keith, you were in that alley too,” Pidge spoke up again. It wasn’t a question. “What _actually_ happened last night?”

 

Keith paled as the shorter hunter turned their attention to him. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t even know the whole story that Lance had told them before. The only story that he could think of was the one that actually happened. He looked at Pidge, angry and determined to hear the truth, and then at Hunk, frustrated out of concern for his friend as he worked to fix up the wound by Lance’s neck –the wound that was only there because of him. Then he looked at Lance.

 

Something about the way he was looking at him must have clued the hunter in on what he was thinking because Lance’s eyes widened and then he began shaking his head. “Keith,” he warned. “Don’t. Don’t say anything, Keith. I got it, I’ll-”

 

“Dammit, Lance! What are you so bent on keeping a secret?” Hunk pleaded. “We’re your friends! _Aren’t we?_ ”

 

And that was all it took for Keith to make up his mind. Lance had been nothing but kind to him. He wasn’t going to let the human risk ruining his friendships with these two –especially not for the sake of protecting him.

 

“It’s my fault.”

 

All three heads turned to the vampire. Pidge looked at him with suspicion, Hunk with confusion wrapped in concern, and Lance with defeat.

 

“Why is it your fault?” Pidge asked, impatient.

 

Keith could feel himself shaking and could even hear it in his voice as he spoke. “It wasn’t Sendak who bit him. It was me.”

 

-


	4. Third Time is the Charm..?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance explains and decisions are made.

-

 

“Guys, _please._ Just listen to me,” Lance begged. Everything seemed to happen at once. Pidge kicked the door to the bathroom closed and pulled out their knife, Keith backed up against the wall and Hunk held onto to Lance, keeping him from getting closer to either of them.

 

“Oh, you are definitely going to be explaining this to us,” Pidge snapped. “But we have another issue to deal with first.”

 

Lance didn’t blame Pidge for their hatred of vampires. They had lost their father to them years ago and nearly had their brother taken away by them too. So he didn’t blame his friend for feeling the way that they did, but he wasn’t going to just let them kill Keith either.

 

“Pidge. I’m begging you, please just listen to me first,” he tried again. He turned to look at Hunk as well. “Hunk, buddy, come on. Does Keith really seem like an immediate threat to you? He’s been here all day. You were talking to him just fine until now.”

 

Hunk looked back at Keith and considered Lance’s words. The vampire wasn’t even trying to fight back -he just looked scared. Hunk sighed, “Fine.”

 

“No, not _‘fine’_ ,” Pidge argued, their voice rising. They lunged forward and pushed Keith against the wall, their hand squeezed tightly around his throat. The hunter was smaller than Keith in size, but that by no means meant that they were weak. The vampire winced.

 

“Pidge, let’s just hear him out first,” Hunk added calmly. “He may be an idiot, but we can at least listen to his reasons before we make any, well, permanent decisions.” He let go of Lance’s arm and after a minute of hesitation, Pidge reluctantly let go of their hold on Keith as well.

 

“Okay, talk.” Pidge ordered and then quickly glared at the vampire. “And _you_ better not move an inch from that spot, hear me?”

 

Keith swallowed, but nodded.

 

Lance told the story from the beginning. Though the vampire wouldn’t have minded the previous scenario to have gone a bit differently, he couldn’t deny that he was glad to get to hear everything that happened from the hunter’s perspective. And even though he would still argue that Lance was being careless by trusting a vampire so easily, he also couldn’t deny that he was incredibly grateful.

 

There was a part of him that was accepting of being killed. He knew it was for the best. He tried not to kill people when he fed, carefully trying not to take too much from one person, but that was still an act of taking. That and he couldn’t say that he’s never killed a person either –a vampire’s hunger was a monster in and of itself. He knew this, but he also wanted to keep living. He wondered if that was selfishness.

 

He had decided that he would live until death came to him. Most likely this would be in the form of a hunter or another vampire. But now, he was in a room with three hunters and, although he didn’t want to hurt any of these people who had been kind to him, he still hoped that this wouldn’t be where he died.

 

_Selfish._

 

-

 

After the other two hunters were caught up, the room was quiet. Hunk and Pidge were both thinking over what Lance had told them. They looked at each other and then Pidge turned to Keith.

 

“Is the information real?” they asked. “The stuff about the organization, about this ‘Zarkon’, that you told Lance.”

 

“Y-yes,” Keith answered.

 

“How’d you get it?” Pidge quickly spoke again. “Is this common knowledge among vampires or do you have some kind of connection that we should know about?”

 

“He’s not with them-” Lance started.

 

“You don’t know that though,” they immediately snapped back. Lance had to admit that they had a point, as much as he doubted it was true. They turned back to Keith, “Well?”

 

“I’m not with them,” the vampire confirmed. “But… I guess I do have a connection to them. I told Lance last night how the one who Turned me is a higher-up in Zarkon’s coven. I have reason to believe that she may even be his right hand now. Sendak has been keeping tabs on me under her orders.

 

“I escaped from the vampire –Haggar is her name- a few weeks or so after I was Turned and fled to this city. I didn’t know that the same faces were working behind the scenes here until Sendak found me. He claims that Haggar wants me back due to ‘having potential’. That’s what he said at least. He, himself, probably couldn’t care less though. In the shape I was in last night, I probably could have died if Lance didn’t intervene.”

 

The three humans quietly took in Keith’s story and glanced at each other.

 

“So, yes, I have connections to them, but if you are trying to ask if I have any loyalties to them, the answer is no,” Keith added.

 

Pidge pondered, “Well, I have to at least say that this all makes a lot more sense than it did a few hours ago. And, unless Keith is lying, this is all very good information.”

 

“Is there anything else that you can tell us? Like, does Zarkon have a main base or something?” Hunk asked.

 

Keith shook his head, “Not that I know of, but I’m sure he must have something like that somewhere. I can tell you where Sendak’s hunting ground is though -I know his scent. And if you want to go after him, his hunting ground is a place where he’s bound to turn up eventually. Though I’d warn you against going after him prematurely. He’s a higher-up, so he’s not weak. The only reason that I’m still alive is because he hasn’t made a point to explicitly kill me. If he wanted to, I’m sure he could do it easily.”

 

“Does he have any weaknesses?” It was Lance who spoke up this time.

 

“I don’t know,” Keith said honestly. “I know that he lost his left arm a few years back, but it’s grown back in full now. He tends to use his right more probably due to that, but I couldn’t say for sure if that’s a weakness. It’s just the closest thing I can think of.”

 

“I mean, that’s still something,” Hunk admitted. “Plus, I mean, we’ve gone from knowing nothing to a whole lot so I’d say that’s definitely something.” Lance beamed at his friend and then waited to hear from Pidge.

 

The smaller hunter seemed conflicted, but then just sighed. “Logically, I should be against this crazy idea, but I’m going to trust Lance’s gut and hope that I don’t end up regretting it.” They turned to Keith. “I’m trusting Lance more than I’m trusting you, but I’m also giving you the benefit of the doubt that you aren’t deceiving us. I’m trusting that there’s at least enough humanity left in you that you don’t betray probably the only hunters stupid enough to give you a chance.”

 

The vampire couldn’t stop the small, but grateful smile from making its way across his face.

 

When the group finally left the cramped bathroom, they made their way to the kitchen once more. Keith admitted that he didn’t think he could pinpoint the location of Sendak’s hunting ground on a map so they were going to have to go in person. Going out now was out of the question though as the sun was setting and they would be risking an encounter. Keith proposed that he take them early the next afternoon while the sun was still high. It was the least likely time for vampires to be out.

 

“But what’s that going to mean for you? If you are going to be our guide, you’re going to have to be out in the sun for who knows how long,” Lance said.

 

Keith shrugged, “I’ll be fine as long as I cover up. It’s better that I just have to go out in the sun than everyone risking running into Sendak unprepared.”

 

No one argued and so the plan was set. The hunter offered for Pidge and Hunk to stay the night and they both accepted –though it was mostly due to them not entirely trusting Keith yet. But all three humans were surprised when the vampire announced that he was leaving.

 

“We’re going to be meeting with you tomorrow anyway, so why don’t you just stay the night again?” Lance asked. “I don’t mind.”

 

Keith looked hesitant. He knew that Lance’s friends would rather he left and he didn’t want to overstay his welcome. He also needed to feed. But on the other hand, he had to think practically when it came to their plans for the next day. Staying in the apartment would mean that he would have to spend, at least slightly, less time in the sun than he would otherwise. Which could be important to getting through the day. Covering up would minimize the amount of burning, but even on a colder day, the warmth of the sun was brutal and exhausting.

 

“No, it’s okay. I should go,” he finally decided. “But maybe if it’s all right, could I come back after I show you the area tomorrow? At least just until the sun sets…”

 

Lance agreed, but refused to let him leave in his clothes from the other day. The hunter argued that they were not only covered in blood –which was already a red flag- but they were falling apart and looked like they hadn’t been washed in years. Keith couldn’t argue back because they really _hadn’t_ been washed in a while. _More like months than years though,_ he thought. _…Probably._

 

After getting a fresh set of clothes, consisting of a shirt, an old hoodie and jeans, he thanked the hunters again and left. He was secretly glad that Lance had insisted on him taking some new clothes. Not only for the practical reasons that he should have focused on, but also for the fact that he ended up getting to leave with something with Lance’s scent after all.

 

He mentally kicked himself again for the thought.

 

-

 

When the vampire stepped outside, it felt like it had been days since he had last been out, despite the fact that it had only been about a day. So much had happened, it was overwhelming to think about. But he forced his thoughts away from the hunters for now –focusing on finding food came first. Lance had been incredibly generous the previous night, but he would be lying if he said he wasn’t already getting hungry again. He figured it must be due to his injuries still healing.

 

Since Keith didn’t take too much from one person, it took him much longer to satisfy his hunger than the vampires who didn’t care. However, that wasn’t to say that he was the only one who didn’t kill his prey. It wasn’t rare for a vampire to take blood but leave the human alive. Everyone had their own reasons for it though. He was feeding from his third human when a familiar voice reached him.

 

“Haven’t seen _you_ in a while,” the voice echoed in the empty alley. Keith sighed as he pulled his fangs out of the unconscious man’s neck.

 

“Do you think I’m dead every time you don’t see me for a couple weeks?” his tone uninterested. “Huh, Rolo?”

 

Rolo laughed. “No, you’re just naturally reclusive, I think. But yesterday someone started spreadin’ the rumor that Zarkon finally off’ed ya.”

 

“Yeah?” Keith raised an eyebrow at him, still not in the mood to converse with the other vampire.

 

“I’m serious. ‘Said you were gettin’ involved where ya shouldn’t be –sounded like you.”

 

“And why would I get myself involved with him when I’m trying to keep myself _un_ involved with him?”

 

“You tell me.”

 

Keith scowled and, instead, refocused his attention on the human in his arms –licking up the blood that was dripping down the man’s neck.

 

“Oh, come on. You don’t have’ta keep secrets from me. I already know that you were th’ one who let that woman get away a few months back,” Rolo smirked when Keith tensed. “Yeah, Nyma saw th’ whole thing go down. She saw one of Zarkon’s guys take th’ thing and knock it out, but thought it was suspicious when he didn’t even feed on it. Curious as always, she tailed him –suspecting that maybe he was takin’ it back to Turn it. But then, to her surprise, she saw you pop outta nowhere and attack him and then take th’ human with you.”

 

Keith tried to seem like he was still uninterested. He finished up his meal and proceeded to narrow his eyes at the other vampire. “What do you want, Rolo?”

 

“I don’t _want_ anything,” he said, leaning against an old dumpster that occupied the alleyway. “I just wanna know what’s goin’ through your head. You gotta know that crossin’ Zarkon like that is only gonna get you killed. More an’ more ‘Pures’ are takin’ his side so th’ guy’s got eyes everywhere. You may think you are doin’ a good thing by helpin’ those humans, but news flash, none of ‘em are ever going to be thankful to a vampire –the world doesn’t work like that. Sorry, man.”

 

When Keith didn’t say anything, Rolo spoke up again. “I’m just tryin’ to look out for ya, that’s all. We’re good acquaintances, wouldn’t ya say?”

 

“Not particularly.”

 

“Brutal,” Rolo feigned to be hurt, but laughed. “Still mad ‘bout last New Year, huh? Well, suit yourself. Despite what you say, I’m guessin’ I’m still th’ closest thing you got to a friend. Anyway, I’m gonna head out while th’ night is still young. Try not to die.” And with that, he left.

 

Keith tried not to think too much about Rolo’s words. He had enough on his mind (that he was also trying not to think about) with Lance and the other hunters, he didn’t need any more reason to overthink anything. At least not right now. Instead, he just cleaned the blood off of his chin and left the alley. The vampire took one more meal for the night and then retired to the city park.

 

The park used to be a vampire hotspot at night. But after it became public knowledge among the humans that a lot of the vampire attacks happened there, humans quickly began to avoid it after a certain hour. Thus, causing it to soon become abandoned by vampires too, as there was no reason for them to go anymore. Which worked out fine for Keith because now it was a quiet place to stay for a while. He also liked the park. He liked all of the trees and listening to the sound of water flowing from the large fountain. He had never visited this city before he was Turned so he could only imagine how alive it looked during the daytime. He was lying down on a park bench when he heard a group of people not far from where he was. He sat up and saw them entering the park. He couldn’t tell from a distance whether they were Zarkon’s people or not, but, either way, he had no plans to get involved so he took that as his cue to leave.

 

He walked around the city some more until lights began to come on from inside the apartment buildings and houses. If humans were waking up, then that meant that it was time for him to head in. The vampire made his way back to Lance’s apartment building and hesitantly walked inside. He figured that the hunters were probably all still asleep and he didn’t want to bother them anyway. But he also wanted to stay out of the morning sun so he decided to wait in the hallway, sitting beside the door to Lance’s apartment. He sat down and pulled his knees up against his chest and wrapped his arms around them, trying to make himself smaller. Keith rested his head on his knees and eventually found himself drifting off to sleep.

 

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With this chapter, I've now officially posted all that I had written before I started posting the story here. I'm close to finishing the next chapter, but after that, I won't be able to post a chapter every day. I'm really excited to write this story though and all of the wonderful feedback that I've gotten has been very encouraging! :) 
> 
> I plan to still update as often/regularly as I can, but there will just be more time between the postings of the future chapters. I hope that is okay and that you continue to enjoy the story! Thank you all for your support!


	5. Following the Trail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group checks out Sendak's hunting ground. Keith tries not to pass out.

-

 

“Maybe I should have just convinced him to stay here,” Lance said as he worked on preparing coffee for everyone.

 

“I’m sure he’ll find his way back,” Hunk said, keeping an eye on the bacon as it cooked. “I mean, probably, anyway. Like, yeah, it’s a perfectly good opportunity to ditch us, but honestly this whole thing today was his idea so I doubt he would.”

 

“That’s true,” Lance agreed. “But what if he forgets where my apartment is?”

 

“You wrote down your room number for him, didn’t you?”

 

“That won’t help if he can’t find the building though.”

 

“I guess, but it’ll probably be fine.” Hunk carefully slid the bacon and eggs onto a large plate. He looked over at Lance, who was currently tapping his fingers on the counter nervously as the coffee pot filled up. Lance stopped once he noticed Hunk was staring.

 

“Sorry,” he finally said. “I’m just worried that he’s going to be looking all over the place while overheating or whatever in the sun, all because I didn’t plan our ‘meeting up’ better.” Hunk looked at him sympathetically.

 

“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” he reassured. “Look, it’s barely past ten. You told him to be back by eleven, right? That’s plenty of time. He could even be on his way up the stairs now.”

 

Pouring the coffee into three mugs, Lance considered his friend’s words. “Do you think I should check the lobby? I told him he could just knock, but it’s possible that he could be waiting down there.”

 

“If you want to,” Hunk shrugged before calling out to Pidge, who was still asleep on the couch. Lance decided that it wouldn’t hurt. He grabbed a piece of bacon from the plate and chewed on it as he opened up his front door to leave. He was surprised when he didn’t even have to step outside of his apartment to find Keith. The boy was sitting outside in the hall, fast asleep.

 

“You were here the whole time!?” Lance’s exclaimed. His voice woke Keith up.

 

“…Huh?” the vampire asked groggily.

 

“I told you to knock when you got here,” he said, crossing his arms. He felt like he was worried for nothing now.

 

“Was too early…” Keith yawned.

 

“Whatever, just get your butt in here,” he held the door open and practically pulled the other boy inside.

 

“See? I told you he’d be fine,” Hunk grinned, as the two walked towards the kitchen area. Lance just replied with a dismissing ‘yeah, yeah’.

 

“Keith, you can sit down if you want,” Lance said as he quickly gathered up a pile of papers to clear more space on the small table. When left without a response, he turned around to see the vampire nervously pulling his hood farther over his face. “What’s the- oh _shit!_ I’m sorry!”

 

The area where the table sat was across from the living room, thus making it across from the large balcony window as well. Even with the curtains shut, light always managed to come in, but right now the curtains were wide open. Lance practically sprinted across the room to quickly pull them closed.

 

“Sorry, I didn’t- I wasn’t thinking,” Lance said awkwardly. “Is it all right like this? Or you could wait in my room if that’d be better. I kept the cardboard up on the window from yesterday.”

 

Keith pondered for a minute, but decided that he should be okay with the way the room was now. Though he asked if he could sit facing away from the window. Lance pulled him a seat. The table soon filled up after that. Hunk and Pidge joined them and plates of food made their way to the center of the table. Lance teased that one of the benefits of having Hunk stay the night meant that he would cook breakfast and that his cooking always made everything taste ten times better than it would otherwise. Hunk just laughed, flattered by the praise.

 

“If you want to try some you can,” Hunk said, nodding towards Keith. The vampire looked surprised.

 

“I, uh, I’m good,” he said, looking down at his hands in his lap. Then he paused, feeling like he should say more than that. _That wasn’t rude, was it?_ he wondered. “T-thank you though! I mean, it’s probably really good… just not…er, I mean, you know. I probably shouldn’t…”

 

Hunk just laughed warmheartedly. “It’s okay, I understand. I just thought I’d offer. I mean, I wasn’t sure if it was just like a preference thing or if you literally _can’t_ eat food.”

 

“They really should teach us more in ‘vampire school’,” Lance said, his mouth full of food.

 

“What the fuck is ‘vampire school’?” Pidge asked. “You mean the training program to be recognized as a hunter? Because we are _not_ going to start referring to that as ‘vampire school’.”

 

“Calling it that sounds more like we are at a school _for_ vampires,” Hunk added.

 

“Hmm, true,” Lance agreed. “But calling it ‘hunters school’ isn’t nearly as catchy…”

 

“Then don’t call it anything with ‘school’ attached to it. Just call it what it is,” Pidge grumbled.

 

“Pidge is so grumpy in the mornings,” Lance teased.

 

“You’re just being stupid. My level of “grumpiness” is completely justified,” Pidge took another bite of their breakfast.

 

“Don’t worry, this is normal for us,” Hunk laughed.

 

“That aside though,” Lance butted in, “Is there anything else you might want? Coffee? Water?”

 

“No, I’m okay,” Keith said again. “I fed last night so I should be fine.” There was a brief silence that followed and the vampire immediately regretted his words. “Fuck, I, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t- er, I s-shouldn’t have shared that, probably. I…I’m sorry.” He instinctively stood up from his seat to leave –without any specific destination in mind- but Lance gently grabbed his hand.

 

“No, no,” he said. “It’s fine. I think we were all just a little surprised, that’s all. You didn’t do anything wrong, I promise.”

 

“I…” The vampire looked at him and then towards Hunk and Pidge as well. Everyone was staring at him now and all of a sudden it was too much. He wasn’t even paying attention to the words as they left his mouth. “I don’t… I t-try not to take too much. I really do- I try not… I…”

 

“Hey-hey-hey, it’s okay,” Lance cooed. Keith wasn’t sure when the other boy had stood up from his seat. “Nobody was accusing you, don’t worry. And I believe you. I saw how hesitant you were to take from me when I offered, so I believe you.”

 

Keith realized that Lance was still holding onto his hand. He slowly sat back down as he tried to control his breathing. Lance rubbed the vampire’s hand with his thumb for moment before finally letting go.

 

“And just needing blood isn’t something we can blame you for,” Lance continued. “It’s not your fault. I mean, hey, we need to eat to survive too.”

 

“You don’t take from other people though…” Keith spoke quietly, still a bit shaken.

 

“That may be true, but that doesn’t make you ‘evil’ by any sort of default,” he countered, his voice still gentle. “Plus, I know you’re doing your best in a tough situation. I can tell that you don’t want to hurt people. I never told you this, but the night I found you, I also ran into those two kids that escaped from Sendak. They told me that you helped them –you _saved_ them. From what I know about that guy now, I’m sure that they would have either been killed or Turned that night. But because you stepped in, they got to go home to their families.”

 

“It doesn’t change anything,” Keith said.

 

“It changed _their_ lives,” Lance declared. “It changed the lives of all of the people who you could have killed but didn’t. I know that you don’t see it, but I do. It doesn’t matter that you’re a vampire -you’re a good person.”

 

Hunk and Pidge were quiet. Somehow it felt like speaking up was almost intruding on something between the two boys. By being an audience though, they were reminded of how much they loved their friend. While they could both agree that he could be a ‘pain in the ass’ at times, they really did care about him a lot. And where it counted, he really was a good person.

 

They were also surprised to find themselves sympathizing with Lance’s new vampire friend. After Lance’s words, the boy seemed to be unable to find words of his own. He kept his eyes down and his lip quivered. Just by watching his reaction, one would think that that was the first time someone had ever said those words to him and, both Hunk and Pidge knew, that honestly, it probably was.

 

The rest of breakfast was not nearly as eventful. As Keith calmed down, everyone settled back into lighter conversation and finished eating. While Hunk and Lance put things away, Pidge surprised the vampire by approaching him.

 

“I’m… I’m not really good at comforting words and all of that,” they paused, their eyes on their hands. “But I want you to know that I believe what Lance is saying about you. I thought about it a lot last night. I know that I was really against trusting you… To be honest, vampires have taken a lot from me and I can’t just let that go. But you surprise me. I didn’t think a vampire could care, but you’ve shown me otherwise. And honestly, it seems like you’ve lost a lot due to vampires too. So in a way, I guess that we’re kind of the same, aren’t we?”

 

Keith smiled, “I don’t blame you for how you reacted before. It was a reasonable response, really. But thank you for giving me a chance. I’m still not sure if I deserve it, or any of this to be honest, but… thank you.”

 

Pidge returned the smile and then made their way down the hall to get ready for the day.

 

-

 

“I don’t know… It still might be a bit much,” Hunk admitted. “It’s not even that cold out yet.”

 

The vampire felt his face heating up as the three humans stood around him and examined what he was wearing. He now had a baseball cap underneath his hood, cobalt blue gloves and a pair of sunglasses added to his outfit. He couldn’t deny that these things would be helpful when going out, but he also didn’t want to attract any attention to himself.

 

“Maybe people will just think that he’s a famous person disguising themselves to hide from the paparazzi,” Lance offered.

 

“I don’t know if we want that either…” Hunk replied.

 

“I’ll just wear them and if people start staring at me or something, then I’ll take off a few things,” Keith finally declared. He was nervous and just wanted to get this trip over with.

 

Walking out of the building, the vampire braced himself but relaxed once he realized that it wasn’t too bad. Thanks to Lance’s last minute additions, very little of his skin was even exposed. Out of curiosity, he tried taking off the sunglasses but immediately winced at the brightness of everything. Needless to say, he kept them on after that. Keith led the way down the streets until they reached the familiar block that reeked of Sendak –it was literally full of his scent.

 

“This is his territory,” Keith said as he continued to walk. “This way.” He reached a narrow alleyway between two apartment complexes and took a few whiffs of the air. The hunters looked at him curiously. “This is where the main source of his scent seems to be. So, I guess, think of it as the center point of his hunting ground.”

 

“How can you tell?” Hunk asked.

 

“I have a good nose.”

 

“No, I mean,” Hunk clarified, “how does he ‘mark’ these places? What’s down there that makes it, uh, smell like him?”

 

“Blood,” Keith said bluntly. “Once a human’s blood has been inside you, it mixes or something and becomes, in a sense, your blood. It has your scent at least. And if a vampire has enough power and no shortage of blood, then they can assert dominance by deliberately spilling their blood at frequent ‘points’ and, therefore, claiming an area. Obviously, there’s nothing stopping someone else from feeding in their territory, but you do so knowing that the vampire who owns it could discover you and if they do, they will probably punish you or kill you.”

 

“So, like, how animals will pee on things to claim them?” Lance snickered.

 

“…What?” Keith squinted from behind his sunglasses.

 

“Ignore him,” Pidge said. “So what stops all vampires from just claiming their own areas?”

 

“Different reasons,” Keith explained. “Sometimes it’s just lack of interest. Other vampires feel it’s risky to always attack in the same place and there are some vampires who just know that they aren’t strong enough to defend it. There’s a lot of unnecessary fighting solely due to claiming turf. And now Zarkon is changing the game so it has only become more complicated.”

 

“Wait, what’s he doing to change things?” Hunk asked.

 

“I don’t really know all of the specifics, but the amount of claimed grounds in the city has probably quadrupled in just the past year or so. Rol- I mean, according to someone, he thinks that Zarkon is offering pieces of the city to his higher-ups as a reward or an incentive to work for him or something. What’s suspicious is that most of these new territories are marked by strong vampires and often defended. Which then leads a lot of others frustrated over the shrinking shared hunting space. The ‘someone I know’ believes that this is working to get more vampires to join Zarkon’s coven. But the more who agree to work under him, the more powerful _he_ becomes, which is why it’s a major problem.”

 

“That’s… really interesting actually,” Pidge said, impressed with the information Keith provided.

 

“Yeah, who knew that all of this was going on under our noses, you know?” Hunk agreed.

 

“Do you have anything ‘claimed’, or whatever?” Lance asked Keith, curious.

 

The vampire just shook his head. “No interest.”

 

“This is good information though. So a lot of the vampires that have these ‘territories’ are big shots with Zarkon, right? So, theoretically, we could try to figure out a way to use them to track these guys and then use _them_ to possibly even get information on Zarkon, himself.” Pidge couldn’t stop an excited smile from creeping on their face.

 

“I mean, maybe…” Keith fidgeted. The heat was starting to really bother him. His whole body was beginning to feel tired, like he had just sprinted rather than walked to get to the part of the city they were in now.

 

“It’s at least more leads that we can explore,” Hunk added. “If we want to take down this Zarkon guy then we have to start somewhere.”

 

“I don’t think you guys realize that Zarkon practically has an _army_ to back him up. He’s not exactly an easy target,” Keith tried to reinforce. He wished he could take off his hoodie to try to cool off, but he knew that it would only feel worse if the sun’s rays were hitting him directly.

 

“We can’t just do nothing though,” Pidge brought up. “And if he’s continuously getting more support, then it’s probably better the sooner we can make a move.”

 

“I wonder how loyal these guys are to Zarkon though,” Lance crossed his arms. “Like, if it was a situation of their lives versus him, I wonder if they’d give us information or if they are actually really devoted to him.”

 

“That’s something to consider too,” Pidge said. “And even if some of them are, finding just one who isn’t loyal could be a huge help –they might even be able to give us his location.”

 

“Hey, Keith,” Hunk said, suddenly sounding a bit concerned. “Are you okay there?”

 

The vampire in question had reached out to use the side of the apartment building for balance. He was getting light-headed. “…I’m okay.”

 

“Maybe we should call it a day and head back,” Lance suggested, worried about Keith now as well. “We know where Sendak’s territory is now. We can discuss things more back at the apartment if we want.” The other two hunters agreed and the group started to make their way back the way they came.

 

Lance felt guilty for not noticing sooner. Obviously, Keith was going to have a hard time out in the middle of the day. The vampire was covered up well –he took credit for that- but it was probably still hot. He wasn’t sure to what extent the heat affected vampires, but his friend’s current condition at least told him that it took some kind of toll on them. The hunter was pretty sure that they have only been outside for two hours at the most. He made sure to check in with Keith often, despite the vampire stubbornly insisting that he was fine.

 

“We can stop somewhere if you need to take a break,” he offered. Keith just shook his head.

 

Lance was relieved when his apartment building was finally in sight. A weight lifted from his chest as the group went through the entrance and the hunter watched Keith visibly relax. They walked up the stairs and Lance quickly unlocked the door to his place, holding the door for everyone to go inside.

 

“Well, we made it,” he sighed, relieved. Then he noticed Keith slowly sliding down the wall next to him. Immediately, he was kneeling in front of him. “Hey, you all right? Do you want to go lie down in my room?”

 

Keith just silently shook his head. Lance reached over and pulled off the other boy’s sunglasses and then his hat and hood as well. Without those things in the way, he got a better look at just how tired the vampire appeared. His eyes were only half open and he looked like he was about to pass out. He figured that Keith must have noticed the worried look on the hunter’s face because he suddenly willed himself to sit up straight and finally spoke up again.

 

“I’m fine, I promise,” the vampire’s voice was soft. “…m’just tired, that’s all.”

 

“Is he okay?” Pidge came out from the kitchen area, concerned. Hunk poked his head up from packing his bag.

 

“He says he’s just tired, but…” Lance started, but was interrupted by Keith.

 

“I’m fine,” he spoke louder this time so the others could hear. “I’m just… I just need to rest.”

 

“How about we move so you aren’t napping on the floor though, yeah?” Lance said. He took hold of the boy’s arm and helped pull him up. Hunk and Pidge then made sure he made it to the bedroom while Lance pulled his portable fan out of the closet. He had already stored it as fall began, but he figured keeping the room extra cool for a bit wouldn’t hurt. When he walked into his room, Keith was already lying in bed with his eyes shut. He noticed that someone must have told him to take his shoes and hoodie off –probably a good idea. The hunter set the fan up and pointed it at the lump that was now curled up in his bed.

 

“He’s probably right that he just needs to rest,” Pidge said, their voice a whisper. Lance nodded.

 

“It’s getting late though. We should probably head out and try to get some rest too,” Hunk added, speaking quietly as well. “We’re all on duty tonight.”

 

“Yeah, we should go,” Pidge agreed. They walked closer to the bed. “Thanks for today, Keith. We’ll see you later, maybe?” Pidge covered a quiet giggle as the vampire only nuzzled into the pillow. “He’s _out_.”

 

“That was fast,” Lance said, mildly amused. “I’ll pass your messages along to him when he gets up.”

 

“Sounds good. I’ll talk to you later tonight on patrol,” Hunk said. And then added, “See ya, Keith.”

 

“See you later, Lance. Bye, Keith,” Pidge said.

 

“See you guys later,” Lance said as the two hunters left the room. Not long later, he heard his front door open and close as well. Deciding that he should grab a bite to eat and then get some sleep too, he stood up and was halfway through the door when he stopped. “Thanks for today, Keith. Get some rest. You deserve it.”

 

And then he quietly shut the door behind him.

 

-

 


	6. The Train Arrives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance wonders when he's going to have to say good-bye to Keith. Keith worries that he is a burden on Lance. Shiro arrives and so does a new problem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At first this was going to be two chapters, but I decided to spare you guys from being stuck with a small cliffhanger, haha. I hope you enjoy this longer chapter!

-

 

When Lance got up later that afternoon, he went in to check on Keith while his microwave dinner cooked. He cracked the door open and saw the vampire still fast asleep on his bed. Then when the other boy still hadn’t got up by the time the hunter needed to head out, he decided to write him a note. The note explained that he was welcome to go out if he needed food, but to make sure to lock the door to the apartment behind him. The spare key was taped to the note. Lance also asked him to please come back in the morning like he had the previous day ( _You have the key so please don’t sleep in the hallway again!)._ He said that they needed to talk about some important things.

 

Lance hoped that he came back.

 

Patrol was quiet again until around midnight when he witnessed an attack. A vampire was making a show out of its attack of a young couple. The hunter intervened and let the two victims escape before finishing off the vampire. He pined it down and sliced through its neck. Blood spurted onto his jacket and covered his hands. He tried to wipe them off on his jeans.

 

After a few more hours of quiet, he eventually pulled out his phone and texted Hunk. “Killed one sucker, but besides that, tonight has been boring. How’s your night going?”

 

“I got one earlier too, but nothing since then. It’s been so quiet lately and now that I know more of what’s going on behind the scenes, it just makes me uneasy,” Hunk replied after only a couple minutes.

 

“True.”

 

“Was Keith up when you left?”

 

“Nah, he was still out like a light. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s still asleep when I get back.”

 

“If he wakes up before then, do you think he’s just gonna head out?”

 

“I wasn’t sure. I left him a note though.”

 

“Hopefully you’ll get to say good-bye in person and not just with the note.”

 

“Well, the note was telling him to come back if he goes out.” Then Lance quickly followed up with a second message. “Do you think he’d just leave like that?”

 

“I mean, I don’t really know. But it’s not like he’s obligated to come back for any reason, you know?”

 

“I know, but I just kinda thought that maybe he’d want to stay a bit longer.”

 

“He can’t stay forever though. You know that. If the organization finds out, you’re in some serious trouble.”

 

“I know. I just want to at least say good-bye without it being rushed or something though.”

 

“You’ve gotten pretty attached to him.”

 

“I don’t even know how it happened.”

 

“I mean, I don’t blame you, honestly. You were right when you said that he’s a decent person. If he weren’t a vampire, who knows, he could have found a place in our group or something. But as nice as he is, he _is_ still a vampire, Lance. It may not be fair, but it’s not something we can change.”

 

“Yeah.” Lance decided to change the topic. “By the way, did you get Shiro’s text? About him coming back tomorrow?”

 

“Yeah, I got it. Maybe we can do a group dinner or something the next night we all have off. It was his grandfather that passed, right?”

 

“I think so.” And then he sent a second message saying, “That’s a good idea though. I’m sure he’d like that. Do you think we should go out or do you want to grace us with your divine and delicious cooking? (I’m totally not trying to sway your decision one way or the other.)”

 

“If I do a dinner then you better help out. Let’s ask Shiro what he would rather do though.”

 

“Okay.” Lance sighed and then sent, “I should probably start walking around again …even though nothing is happening and I am bored. Talk to you later.”

 

And unfortunately for Lance, he predicted the rest of his night –nothing happened and he was bored.

 

-

 

The hunter was nervous. Or maybe anxious was a better word for it.

 

He was walking back to his apartment and would soon find out what Keith decided. The sun was already rising so even if the vampire did leave, he would be back around now –if he planned on coming back. He knew that Hunk was right and that his best friend was just trying to look after him by reminding him of the facts, but it was still hard to imagine Keith leaving his life as suddenly as he had come into it.

 

When he got to his door, he paused. He took a deep breath before unlocking it and stepping inside. He didn’t immediately see Keith inside, but the sun was creeping in the room so he figured that could just be the reason. He felt a lump in his throat when he saw that his bedroom door was partially open. So he at least knew that Keith had gotten up at some point while he was out. It was still possible that he was inside, but had just kept the door open -maybe to hear when the front door opened. Lance knew that he was reaching for possibilities to reassure himself. He also knew that it was more likely that the vampire had just left, but he didn’t want to believe it until he knew for sure.

 

He felt a hollowness in his chest when he walked into the empty bedroom.

 

Hunk was right in that the vampire had no obligation to stay. And if he was feeling better, he really didn’t have much _reason_ to stay. Only, Lance had still hoped that he would.

 

“Well,” he sighed and plopped onto the edge of his bed, “I hope he’s doing okay, at least.” The hunter may have been saddened by Keith’s choice, but he would still respect it. He wasn’t going to stop the vampire from leaving. More than anything, he just wanted to be able to give him a proper good-bye. He sighed again and leaned back until he was lying against the mattress and bunched up sheets. He noticed the bloodstains on them and made a mental note to himself to wash them later. For now though, he decided on sleep.

 

-

 

Lance forgot to set an alarm, but he woke up on his own a little past three in the afternoon. He yawned and rolled out of bed. His stomach was demanding food so he figured he should appease it and actually cook something this time. When he pulled the half-closed bedroom door open, however, his eyes widened with surprise at the sight before him.

 

The vampire was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall of the apartment’s narrow hallway, asleep. He couldn’t help but to smile.

 

“What’s up with you and sleeping in hallways, huh?” he teased, lightly nudging the boy’s leg with his own.

 

Keith scrunched his face in a scowl without opening his eyes, “What’s up with you and rudely waking people up?” Lance just laughed.

 

The hunter continued with his plan to make himself some dinner. He had just started boiling some water when Keith made his way over into the kitchen. He heard the clink of metal hitting the counter.

 

“Thanks for, uh, letting me borrow it,” the vampire said.

 

“It’s a spare so if you want… I mean, you don’t have to,” Lance realized he was speaking without thinking this thoughts through. “But you can keep it if you want. You know, like, in case you need a place to crash sometime.” He desperately tried to keep his eyes solely on the stove in front of him.

 

“That’s…” Keith began, his voice unsure. “I shouldn’t. I appreciate you offering… but I don’t think I should keep it.”

 

Lance understood.

 

“Just thought I’d offer,” he said, more cheerful than he felt. “I’m glad it came in handy today though. Did you get lost or something?”

 

“No, I…” the vampire stumbled. “It’s… it’s not important.”

 

Lance hummed, curious. “Did something happen?”

 

“Not exactly,” he admitted. “I was probably just being paranoid.”

 

“Wait, what do you mean? _Did_ something happen?” he asked again, more serious this time.

 

“I just kept feeling like I was being watched or something, that’s all…” he fidgeted. “I didn’t want them to tail me back here so I waited until the sun was up make my way back.”

 

“Oh,” Lance said. He wasn’t expecting that. “Do you think someone really was watching you? Like, do you know anyone who would do that? You don’t think it was Sendak, do you?”

 

Keith shook his head, “Sendak probably would have approached me. I don’t know though… It could have been nothing. I just didn’t want to risk it.”

 

“Well,” Lance said, pouring the pasta noodles into the steaming pot, “thanks for not leading anyone back with you. Were you all right in the sun?”

 

“I wasn’t out for as long as yesterday, so I managed it,” the vampire said, though his expression gave Lance the impression that it was harder than he was making it out to be. He didn’t press it.

 

“Well, you are welcome to nap here some more if you want,” he offered.

 

“I actually might take you up on that. What did you want to talk about though? You said there was something important.”

 

“Oh, that,” Lance said, nervous. He stirred his pasta around in the pot –just wanting something to do with his hands. “To be honest, I mostly just didn’t want you to leave without me getting a chance to talk to you, so I may have used the word ‘important’ a bit liberally.”

 

Keith raised an eyebrow, his expression silently asking ‘ _Seriously?’_.

 

“ _But_ ,” Lance continued, “I wanted to ask what you, well… where you want to go from here?”

 

“What do you mean?” Keith asked.

 

“I mean like, um, are we going to try to stay in touch or something? I mean, I’m pretty sure you don’t have a phone or anything, but, I don’t know, like, you could pop by every now and then or something, if you wanted? I just…” Lance knew he was tripping over his words. “I just kinda consider you, like, a friend now, you know?”

 

The hunter struggled to read Keith’s expression. To him, it kind of just looked like utter shock. Then he finally spoke.

 

“…W-why would you want to be friends with me..?”

 

“I mean, it kind of just sort of happened on its own, I think,” Lance laughed a little. “If you don’t want to stay in touch or anything, that’s fine though. I don’t blame you for wanting to steer clear of a bunch of hunters, honestly. But, just, I guess let me know what you-”

 

“Is it okay?” Keith interrupted.

 

“What do you mean? “Okay” to be friends?” Lance asked. The vampire nodded. “I mean I’m sure not everyone would agree with it, but I don’t see why we can’t try it.”

 

He knew that this could potentially be very dangerous for more reasons than one, but it felt too wrong to just kick the other boy out of his life. That, and he genuinely liked Keith. He wasn’t even sure when it happened, but he’d come to really appreciate his company.

 

Lance watched as Keith squeezed his eyes shut and nodded quickly. “I-I want to!” he pushed his words out.

 

“Then it’s settled,” Lance said with a soft laugh.

 

-

 

Keith still wouldn’t accept the spare key.

 

Lance had tried to convince him, but he stood his ground and refused. The vampire was overwhelmed at the idea that Lance actually wanted to keep spending time with him. He was beyond happy and, though he still wasn’t sure if he _should_ keep hanging around the human, he decided that he would let himself have this for now -whatever _“this”_ was. He was not, however, going to risk his friend’s safety more than he already was. Carrying around a key with him was a risk that he wasn’t willing to take. Plus, the hallway wasn’t as uncomfortable as Lance kept insisting it was.

 

So that night, Keith went out to hunt and Lance went out to patrol. Then Keith arrived back before sunrise and waited in the hall for a couple hours until Lance returned as well. Lance had insisted that he could keep coming back each morning, but the vampire had plans to not let it go on for too long. They would have to figure out another way to get to see each other, and it wouldn’t be as often, but Keith thought that he shouldn’t overstay his welcome. He figured that Lance was very hospitable and probably just didn’t want to be rude, but expected him to go soon. After all, he had said that they were friends –he didn’t say that they would be roommates too. Still, the vampire was going to enjoy it while it lasted.

 

The two both went to sleep for a few hours and this time, Lance’s alarm woke Keith up. He groaned at the noise and at the fact that Lance was so quick to wake up. The hunter had taken his bed back, but set up an air mattress, the one that Hunk usually used out in the living room, at the other side of the room. The vampire felt a bit flustered at sleeping so close to the other and sharing his bedroom, but Lance had reassured him that it was fine. And that it was also the better option as his apartment was fairly small and it basically boiled down to his room or the living room –the living room being out due to the issue of sunlight. So his room it was.

 

Lance was making dinner before heading out to patrol when the pleasant mood went downhill.

 

“Oh, and I forgot to tell you earlier, but tomorrow we all have the night off. We usually are able to keep our schedules synced pretty well and it definitely pays off on days off,” Lance said, scooping out stir-fry onto his plate.

 

“Are you guys planning on doing something together?” Keith asked.

 

“Yeah, we are actually all gonna go out to dinner. It’s sort of an occasion, well, more like a ‘hey, welcome back, we hope you are doing okay and we are going to try to get your mind off of things with good food and probably alcohol’,” Lance laughed.

 

“Welcome back?” Keith asked, tilting his head quizzically.

 

“Oh, that’s right! I guess we haven’t mentioned the fourth member of our crew much, have we? He was out of town for a funeral, but he came back the other day. His name is Shiro. Well, it’s actually Takashi, but we call him Shiro. He’s a real great guy! I was thinking about it last night and I’m sure, as long as I get a chance to explain everything first, he’ll be open to accepting you, too. I just have a good feeling, ya know?” When Lance looked up from his plate, however, he was surprised to find Keith with wide eyes. Was _that… fear?_ “Hey… what’s wrong? I understand if you are nervous about meeting someone else. I’m sorry. Maybe I should have mentioned him earlier. But don’t worry, okay? I’ll tell him all about you first and I’m sure he’ll-”

 

“Don’t!” Keith nearly shouted, his voice quickly turning quiet after. “Please don’t… don’t tell him about me.”

 

Lance looked at him sympathetically, “Keith…”

 

“P-please… I can’t- just don’t,” he choked out. The hunter could see the boy’s hands shaking. “P-please just don’t tell him about me.”

 

“Keith, talk to me,” Lance gently urged. “Do you… do you know him?”

 

The vampire slowly nodded, his body still trembling. “I… I knew him before I Turned. He was my friend.”

 

-

 

Lance wished that they didn’t have to part ways so soon after their conversation. He promised Keith that he wouldn’t tell Shiro his identity and he’d pass the message along to Hunk and Pidge as well. He also promised that he’d figure something out and to just try not to think about it for now. He knew Keith was going to think about it though. Which is why he worried so much about the vampire going out to hunt and whether or not he was going to come back.

 

Keith, as Lance predicted, couldn’t stop thinking about it. He tried not to, but it was too much. He wanted to crawl into a corner and just disappear. _Shiro is in this city. Shiro is a_ hunter _. Shiro knows Lance. Shiro shiro shiro._ He felt like his mind was a broken record. The one person who he never wanted to see again –who he could never bring himself to see again- was friends with the person who he wanted to continue to see again. Calling it ‘bad luck’ just didn’t seem to cover it.

 

It wasn’t as though he had anything against Shiro. In fact, it was precisely the opposite. Shiro was his only friend in his human life –his _best_ friend. When he was Turned, it was tough to leave his humanity behind, so to speak, but he didn’t really feel the loss of any people in his life –except Shiro. But he couldn’t go to him. He couldn’t even say good-bye. He didn’t want his last memory of Shiro to be his friend looking at him in fear or disgust after finding out that what he had become. He would rather his friend grieve his death than know that he had become a monster.

 

Even though his mind was somewhere else, Keith knew that he had to feed. He usually took a small amount from three or four humans, but his emotions were getting the best of him and the only temporary escape from his thoughts was when he was actually getting to consume the blood. It tended to make him slightly uncomfortable when other vampires referred to the feeling that came along with feeding as ‘pleasure’. Keith could understand where they were coming from, but he saw it more as a short feeling of ‘bliss’. And now, with fear, anger, frustration, sadness and everything else swirling inside his head like a whirlpool, he was desperately clinging to that ‘bliss’ –chasing after it as a brief distraction from all of his hurt.

 

He was hunting his sixth human of the night when something was different. Usually he could pull them aside and quickly knock them out before they even saw his face, but this woman was too prepared. She fought out of his grasp and pulled out a small bottle. Before Keith had time to react, she splashed the bottle at him and then did so again a second time -for good measure, he supposed. He immediately knew what it was once it touched him. He had encountered it once before when he had a run in with a hunter. Holy water.

 

It _burned_. He could feel the sharp sting on both his neck and his face and couldn’t stop a hiss from escaping his mouth. A moment later, when he opened his eyes, he could see the woman running down the street –shouting for the police. He pulled his hood up and fled.

 

The vampire’s run soon turned into a light jog, then a casual walk. He went through the park and took random turns on the city streets until he was able to convince himself that no one was following him and that no one who was looking for him would find him. Then he just let himself walk as his mind wandered back to the inevitable topic of Shiro. At first he wondered if him being attacked (though admittedly he knew it was self-defense) was karma for taking so much blood. Then he wondered if it was a reminder that he was a monster. The universe telling him that that’s all Shiro would see. Shiro.

 

It took him a minute to realize that he had walked himself to Lance’s apartment building. He wasn’t sure what he should think about that. Nonetheless, though, he went ahead and made his way inside.

 

It was still hours until sunrise, but he needed rest anyway. He was exhausted, in every meaning of the damn word. He sat down, in what was now his “usual” spot, and let out a long sigh. His face still hurt. By feeling the burns, he could tell that they weren’t bad – _probably just some discoloration or something_ , he thought. But that didn’t change the fact that they still really burned. He curled into himself and hid his face behind his arms and knees.

 

-

 

When Lance showed up, he breathed a sigh of relief once he saw Keith in his usual spot by the door. It looked like he was asleep so he gave him a small tap.

 

“Awake?” he asked. The vampire poked his head up and squinted his eyes, still full of sleep. He woke up though when Lance’s voice suddenly got louder. “Shit! Are you okay? What happened?”

 

Keith pulled his hood farther over his head and mumbled, “I’m fine.”

 

“You most definitely aren’t fine! Spill it. What happened?” The hunter surprised Keith by suddenly appearing right next to him, squatting to be close to eye level with him. He carefully placed his hand on the vampire’s chin and turned his head to face him so he could take a closer look. Keith allowed him to, but only sunk lower when Lance continued his questions. “Are these … _burns_? How did you get burns?”

 

“I don’t want to talk about it…”

 

“Too bad.” And then he unlocked the door and pulled the boy inside. He led him into the small bathroom and sat him down on the covered toilet seat. The hunter soaked a towel in cold water and handed it to Keith to place against his face. The vampire sighed with relief and practically melted into it. After a moment, Lance crossed his arms and asked again, “So are you going to tell me what happened to you out there?”

 

“No,” Keith said bluntly.

 

“Not an acceptable answer, try again.”

 

“You made fun of Hunk, but you’re acting like a mom too.”

 

“Don’t try to change the subject.”

 

Keith was quiet for another moment, but then slowly pulled the towel away from his face. He sighed. “…I got sprayed with holy water. There. Are you happy?”

 

“Am I happy that you told me? Yes, yes I am. Am I happy that you got attacked? Fuck no. Jeez, are you all right?”

 

“I’m doing fantastic.”

 

“Okay, the sarcasm there was a bit unnecessary, but I’ll let it slide because you’re injured. _Shit,_ Keith. Hold on, I might have a cream we can put on it.” The hunter proceeded to dig through the cabinet under his sink.

 

“What’s cream gonna do? I’ll heal soon enough on my own.”

 

“It’ll help, trust me.” He pulled out a small bottle. “There we are!”

 

Keith didn’t look impressed. “How do you know that your cream is going to work? Does it say ‘approved for blood-sucking monsters’ on the back?”

 

“Keith, stop. You’re not a monster…”

 

The vampire snorted, “Oh really? I’ll remember that next time I get burned by _holy_ water.”

 

“Keith…”

 

“I mean, you can’t even deny that it’s true. I _know_ that it’s true…” he said, his frustration leaving his words all at once. He looked up at Lance with a pained expression.

 

The hunter was quiet for minute and then focused his attention on opening the small bottle in his hands. “Well,” he started, “if you’re a monster then you’re the worst monster I’ve ever seen. The big, bad monster in charge should fire you because you don’t know how to do your job.” Lance sighed and then added, “Being a vampire doesn’t automatically mean you’re a monster. It just means that you’re a vampire, period. I mean, I’ve only really realized this recently, but the two aren’t one and the same. You can’t control the fact that you’re a vampire, but you can control whether or not you are a monster. And I can tell you that you, my friend, are _not_ a monster.”

 

“I don’t know if I can believe that…” Keith said with a defeated tone.

 

“That’s okay,” Lance smiled. “It might just have to be a process. But for now, I believe it. And I’m sure Hunk and Pidge do too. …And I know that Shiro would feel the same way. We’ll just wait for you to catch up. Now turn your head that way, I’m gonna put the cream on.”

 

Keith silently complied.

 

The hunter sat on the side of the bathtub and leaned over to carefully cover Keith’s burns with the cream. At the first touch, the vampire flinched with a small hiss of pain, but then quickly insisted that he was fine and closed his eyes. Lance continued to carefully apply the cream to the splotches of pink and red. He knew that he couldn’t blame whoever did this to him, but, at the same time, he found himself angry with them –angry that they had hurt this vampire who was just trying to get through each day; this vampire who teared up when people were nice to him; this vampire who wished so badly that he wasn’t a vampire and was so willing to die because he thinks he’s just a monster. Lance also found himself staring at the face in front of him. He had never noticed how long the boy’s eyelashes were.

 

It didn’t take long for Keith to ignore the sting of the burns, but just focus instead on the coolness of the lotion and the soothing circles traced by Lance’s fingers. He expected the hunter’s hands to be a bit rough to the touch, but they were nothing but gentle against his skin. The vampire tried to think back to the last time he was given a gentle touch, other than by Lance, but came up short. He didn’t understand why everything with Lance was so soft and soothing. He could be annoying, sure, but the vampire even found himself finding (some of) those moments endearing. _How did I get so lucky to have found him?_ he thought. He felt that he didn’t deserve Lance or anything from the past few days (minus the holy water to the face, he felt he deserved that). The world didn’t work like this. Monsters aren’t allowed to make friends, to be happy. That wasn’t the way the world worked… but then what was this? Keith froze when he felt a tear run down his cheek.

 

Lance’s hands were immediately cupping the vampire’s face. “Hey,” he said softly.

 

Keith wiped at his face with his sleeve, but realized too late that he also wiped off a bunch of the lotion with it.

 

“Well I guess I’m doing those spots again,” Lance laughed. Keith cracked a smile this time as well.

 

“Serves you right,” Keith smirked playfully. “That tear was your fault.”

 

“Even if it was, you wiped it with my sweatshirt.”

 

“But you gave this to me.”

 

“And you dirtied a perfectly great gift, way to go.”

 

Keith couldn’t help but to laugh a little. Lance laughed too as he went back to covering the spots on the vampire’s cheek.

 

“You can stay here, you know,” Lance said, suddenly breaking the silence.

 

Keith opened his eyes, confused, but then quickly closed them again as soon as he saw how close the hunter’s face was to his own.

 

“I wanted to wait to see what you were thinking, like, if you _wanted_ to stay, you know? But, I figured I’d just let you know. That you are welcome to stay, that is. Like, here with me. If you want to …and stuff,” Lance trailed off.

 

“I… I probably shouldn’t though…” Keith admitted, his eyes still shut. “It’s dangerous enough that I’m here at all. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

 

“You know, I might not look it, but I’m a pretty tough guy,” he grinned. “And hey, if any vampires show up, then they are doing half of my job for me, so, score!”

 

The vampire snorted, his smile returning, “You’re an idiot.”

 

“You’re the one who chose to be friends with this idiot,” he teased.

 

“I know. I’m already starting to think that I made a mistake.”

 

“Ha! Well too bad, you are officially stuck with me. I don’t make the rules.”

 

Keith decided that he was okay with that.

 

-


	7. So, Same Time Tomorrow?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The hunters meet Shiro for dinner. Lance and Keith are both very stubborn. The group goes after Sendak.
> 
> (*Just a warning that this chapter contains graphic depictions of violence.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't abandon this story, don't worry! :)  
> That being said, I'm sorry for the long delay. I've had a lot going on with work-related things and I also experienced a brief writer's block spell, so it took longer than expected to get this chapter finished and edited. But in the past couple days, I've been able to get back in my writing groove and I'm excited to hear what people think about the big events occurring in this chapter and the next. I hope you enjoy it!

-

 

The emotional morning soon turned into a sleepy afternoon. It didn’t take long for Keith to fall asleep, still exhausted from the night, and Lance fell asleep soon after. His alarm woke them both up at four in the afternoon. The vampire pulled the blanket over his head in an attempt to drown out the noise. The hunter, on the other hand, hopped out of bed and began to get ready for his night off. He came back into his room after his shower and found Keith out of bed. The vampire was looking at his face in the mirror on Lance’s dresser.

 

“Wait, vampires _do_ show up in mirrors?” Lance exclaimed with false surprise. Keith just rolled his eyes as he continued to examine his burns. The hunter then walked up to him and gently put his hand on his shoulder. “Can I see how they’re healing?”

 

Keith could feel a slight blush creep across his face, but allowed him to look. Lance hummed as he examined the other carefully.

 

“Well, they look a lot better than they did this morning at least,” he finally said. The vampire just nodded. “How are you feeling?”

 

“Okay, I guess…” Keith sighed. It was true that they didn’t really hurt much anymore, but he was still emotionally drained from the night.

 

Lance gave him a small smile, understanding. “I’m guessing that you don’t want to, _but_ just in case, would you want to come to the dinner tonight?” He noticed Keith suddenly tense. “You don’t have to, it’s okay. I just wanted to ask in case.” He paused before adding, “There’s no rush to any of this, but I think that you should maybe consider seeing Shiro. I know that it’s hard, I mean, I can’t imagine how hard it is, but I know that it’s gotta be… just, really tough. But I’m not just saying it when I tell you that I think he’ll be okay with you. So just… maybe think about it some more, maybe, okay?”

 

The vampire kept his gaze glued to the floor, but he wasn’t visibly tense anymore and he nodded, so Lance considered it progress made.

 

Keith told Lance that, as long as it was okay, he might just stay in for the night. He explained that he fed plenty the previous night and so he should be fine taking the night off. The hunter assured him that it was fine and gave him some quick notes about the apartment. Then, after Keith was formally educated on how the thermostat and television worked, Lance decided to head out.

 

Lance met up with his friends in front of the small pub that Shiro had picked out. The four hunters quickly fell into their comfortable banter and conversation. They liked to keep their conversation light and away from work, but, as usual, as the night went on, the topic found its way to the table. Their jobs were major parts of their lives, after all, and, with the exception of Shiro, the group had experienced some interesting things lately thanks to their new acquaintance. Lance had kind of hoped that Keith wouldn’t be discussed much at all during their night out, but once the deed was done he just hoped that neither he nor Hunk slipped up and mentioned Keith’s name in front of Shiro. Pidge (still only twenty) was sober so he felt less worried about them spilling that particularly dangerous can of worms.

 

“A ...vampire?” Shiro asked, failing to mask his concern and wariness.

 

“Yeah…” Lance spoke hesitantly, “I kind of didn’t get around to bringing it up before, but, yeah.”

 

“Don’t bother trying to talk him out of it now though. Lance already got attached,” Pidge snickered. Shiro still looked uneasy.

 

“I’m not _attached_ ,” Lance tried to argue, despite knowing that he couldn’t effectively deny it.

 

“You’ve practically made him your roommate, dude,” Hunk laughed.

 

Lance shuffled a bit, unsure, but then decided to go ahead and speak the words on his tongue. “About that… I may have kind of… sort of invited him to actually live with me… maybe.”

 

“Hunk, pay up,” Pidge said, not batting an eye. Hunk sighed and pulled out his wallet.

 

“You guys had a fucking betting pool on this!?” Lance exclaimed. Pidge just laughed.

 

Shiro, however, still wasn’t smiling. “Lance… don’t you think that’s a bit reckless?”

 

“I know, I know. I know what I’m doing though. Don’t worry about it, okay? Honestly I haven’t once felt in danger around Ke-, er, around him. He’s not gonna hurt me.”

 

“You can’t know that though,” Shiro said, worried.

 

“I trust him though,” Lance reassured him. “It’s just like having a normal roommate …kind of. You know, just like a nocturnal one. I mean, with our schedules, we’re pretty much nocturnal too, so it works out.”

 

“He’s not just nocturnal. He’s a _vampire_ , Lance,” Shiro sighed.

 

Lance absentmindedly began wiping the condensation off of his drink. His voice was quieter when he spoke again, “He used to be human though…” Shiro just looked at him sympathetically. “I mean, what if it were me, you know? What if I got Turned one night? Would you guys just immediately give up on me like that?”

 

“We’re supposed to,” Shiro spoke sternly. Then his voice quickly became soft, “But if it were one of you, I… I don’t know if I could do that…”

 

The group fell into a silence. Everyone’s mind had reached the same conclusion and words didn’t need to be said. Instead, Lance smiled and opted for a change in subject, in which everyone agreed. The hunter could tell that Shiro was still a bit nervous about his decisions with Keith, but he also knew that his friend was giving him a chance. Shiro was making an effort to see things the way he was seeing them and, for now, that was all he could have asked for.

 

The rest of the night was back to their light-hearted fun until they all decided to grab a couple taxis and head back home. Lance made it back to his building a little before two in the morning. He waved as the taxi left to drive a couple more blocks down to drop Hunk off at his own place. He drank more than he had planned to, but he wasn’t so drunk that he had any trouble getting up to his room. He unlocked the door and stepped inside. By the time he locked the door behind him and dropped his keys on the counter, he noticed how cold it was. It was colder in his apartment than it was outside. He kept his jacket on as he walked down the hallway to his bedroom.

 

“I guess you figured out how the thermostat works,” Lance teased. “Either that or you tried to figure it out, failed, and have been sitting in the cold waiting for me to come back and fix it for you.”

 

“You’re hilarious,” Keith deadpanned, not even looking up from the book in his lap.

 

“I get told that a lot,” he grinned. A smile crept through Keith’s stoic act as well.

 

“You can turn it back up now that you’re back,” the vampire added, closing his book.

 

“Are you too warm in here?”

 

“No, I’m fine with how you usually keep it. I just like it cold.”

 

“Okay, well I won’t turn it up too high. I’ll admit this is a bit chilly for me though,” Lance chuckled. Keith nodded, looking like he felt a bit guilty for changing it. Noticing this, the hunter quickly added, “Hey, it’s fine though, I promise. I told you that you could change it if you wanted to.”

 

This seemed to be enough to reassure him because Keith directed a small smile at Lance and nodded. The hunter smiled right back.

 

“So what were you reading there?” he asked.

 

“Vampireology.”

 

“Um…why?” Lance squinted at him, dumbfounded. “Aren’t you already, you know, pretty well-versed in that field?”

 

Keith simply shrugged, “I thought it’d be interesting.”

 

“Uh-huh. Were you just snickering at all of the inaccuracies?” he raised an eyebrow.

 

“Some of them are pretty bad.”

 

“I knew it.” Lance said.

 

The hunter couldn’t stop his smile from returning though. His light banter with Keith felt as natural as that of his other friends, who he has known for a number of years now. Lance knew that their situation wasn’t exactly very good and, especially with Shiro and Keith’s past relationship being a concern, things were a bit worrisome, to say the least. Despite that though, he couldn’t stop smiling as he went back to the living room to change the thermostat. He realized that, for the first time since he moved out of the house he grew up in, he had finally come back to something that was more than just his apartment –he had come back to a place that felt like a _home_.

 

-

 

“I still don’t think this is a good idea,” Keith said, uneasy. Lance and his friends had been preparing for their attack on Sendak for a few weeks now so it wasn’t that they were being completely impulsive, but Keith wasn’t convinced that they were ready. He also worried that they were still underestimating their target despite his repeated attempts to get it through Lance’s head that he should not be treated as a “common vampire”.

 

“It’ll be fine,” Lance assured him as he packed his bag. “We’re ready and we’ll be careful, I promise.”

 

The vampire just scowled. He was frustrated that he couldn’t talk them out of it and felt guilty considering it was his own fault that they were going after Sendak in the first place. Though at the time, he was just focused on trying to be helpful. Now, however, he genuinely cared about everyone’s safety and wanted them to just drop the whole thing. He understood that it was their job and, all things considered, he would be just as stubborn if he were in their position, but he also knew firsthand just how strong Sendak was.

 

Lance looked up from his bag after Keith was silent for a bit too long. His expression softened. “You’re worried,” he said. It was an observation more than a question. “We’ll be fine. It’ll be four prepared hunters against one unprepared vampire –we got this. And if things somehow still manage to go south, then we’ll retreat, okay?”

 

Keith sighed. He wasn’t convinced, but he knew he was just going to have to trust him. And hope that their confidence wasn’t misplaced. “Okay…” he said, unhappily. “But I’m coming with you.”

 

“No, no, no you aren’t,” Lance responded immediately. “We already talked about this.”

 

“I’m coming anyway.”

 

“You know that you’ll have to confront Shiro if you do.”

 

“I-I know that,” Keith replied, his voice betraying him by showing how uneasy that idea still made him.

 

“Keith,” Lance said, softer now, “It’s okay, really. I believe you that he’s a strong guy and everyone is keeping that in mind, but we are a tough bunch too. I know that you are worried, but I honestly think that with everyone together, we’ll be fine and that we’ll be back and celebrating before you know it.”

 

The vampire finally agreed that he would trust them to be okay, but not without mentally making his own plans for the night. The group planned to attack Sendak’s hunting ground at around four in the morning. They figured that that would be an ideal time because Sendak should still be out, but it was also not too far away from sunrise. Even if the battle didn’t drag out that long, just the looming threat of the sun could be an added advantage. Keith decided that he would follow behind them and be there in case they got themselves into trouble. He knew that there would be risks and there was the issue of Shiro possibly seeing him, but he would rather deal with those issues than allow someone he cared about to get themselves killed.

 

He waited a bit after Lance left before leaving the apartment as well. He had already made sure to feed a bit extra the previous night so that he wouldn’t have to worry about being hungry on top of everything else.

 

Keith kept his distance and watched as the group of hunters met up with each other. Even though it had been over six years since he last saw him, he recognized Shiro immediately. He felt a pain in his chest as he watched him from afar. He wished he could believe Lance that Shiro would be accepting, but the risk was too much for him to take. Plus, his friend had chosen to become a hunter of all things. That tended to lead one to assume that they had a hatred of vampires, not that they would accept one with open arms. Shiro had always been kind and supportive of him when they were growing up, but that didn’t mean he would extend that same kindness to him now that his humanity was gone. He quickly stopped his thoughts from going deeper into the issue and brought himself back to the scene in front of him.

 

The hunters were doing last minute preparations and making their way into Sendak’s area. Keith carefully kept up with them from across the street. After the group wandered through the hunting ground for what had to be close to an hour, he almost started to wonder if the night was going to be a bust. But then Sendak finally appeared around a corner. The hunters didn’t waste a second as they sprung into action. Sendak’s expression showed his initial surprise, but his actions did not. He attacked immediately and ferociously.

 

Keith watched from his spot and only grew more and more anxious. It wasn’t that Sendak was completely overpowering them, but the humans were barely injuring him. They tried stabbing him from different points, but none of their hits were enough to immobilize him. Keith wondered if the other vampire had consumed a large enough quantity of blood in the past few hours that would explain his apparent lack of injury. If he had a huge enough surplus inside of him, it was possible that his wounds would begin healing almost immediately. It was merely a hypothesis, but he still cursed himself for not considering that when they had brainstormed the best time to strike.

 

Then his heart nearly stopped.

 

He watched in horror as Sendak grabbed Shiro and pulled his arm right off. The only thing that stopped Keith from running directly into the fight at that moment was the fact that Shiro barely reacted and he wasn’t hit with the smell of blood. In fact, he didn’t notice any blood come out of the attack at all. _A prosthetic?_ Keith wondered.

 

He didn’t have much time to think on that, however. There wasn’t a moment of hesitation as Sendak tossed the arm across the alley and began attacking once more. Lance attacked the large vampire from behind, but Sendak merely swung his body around and slammed his arm into the hunter. His grip squeezed Lance’s throat as he held him off of the ground. He was saying something to the hunters, something that made them all stop in their tracks, but Keith was too far away to hear. Not that he probably would have heard anyway due to the rage boiling up inside of him.

 

He wasn’t even sure when he started moving, but his heart pounded as he ran into the alleyway and charged at Sendak. Due to him going on “autopilot”, so to speak, he wasn’t exactly thinking things through nor did he have any plan on what he was going to do once he got to this point. He got lucky that his appearance was enough of a surprise to Sendak that the vampire loosened his grip on Lance, enabling the hunter to break himself free as the two vampires collided with each other. Sendak, however, barely lost his footing and quickly countered by kicking Keith into the cement wall.

 

“You don’t know how to stay out of other people’s business, do you?” Sendak practically laughed. “Surely, you should know by now that no human is going to thank you for saving them- least of all, a hunter. You do know that the one you just protected is a hunter, right?” Keith just glared at him, trying not to let his gaze wander to the humans across from him. He hoped that Lance was all right.

 

As it turned out, he ended up being a good distraction that allowed for Pidge to move without Sendak noticing. The smaller hunter’s movements were strong and precise as they sliced at the vampire’s arm, chopping the lower half off. Blood poured from the base and Sendak growled with displeasure. Suddenly, amusing himself with Keith seemed less appealing and he refocused his attention on the hunter behind him. He slammed Pidge to the ground with brute force. Keith could hear the chilling sound of a bone cracking.

 

Sendak was no longer allowing himself any fun, it seemed. He swiftly attacked the hunters despite his missing limb and growing anger. When he had knocked the last of them to the ground, he slowed down a bit to pick up a hatchet that one of them had dropped it the fight. He weighed it carefully in his hand before approaching Hunk, who was closest to him. Keith’s body still ached, but he didn’t hesitate as he willed himself off the ground and towards Hunk. He lunged at Sendak, giving Hunk the few extra seconds he needed to move and try to get himself back up. Keith, unfortunately, had used up the last of his luck.

 

Sendak knocked him onto the ground and then Keith felt the ice-cold metal cut through his skin. He cried out in pain and tried to get himself up, with no success. His hearing became muffled, but he wasn’t sure if it was due to blood loss, panic, fear or something else. Despite that, he still made out the sound of Lance shouting his name. He willed himself to turn around in time to see Shiro slicing, what appeared to be the same hatchet Sendak was previously holding, through the large vampire’s neck.

 

Sendak’s scream was cut short as he was decapitated. His body collapsed to the ground and then the alley was filled only with the sounds of heavy breathing.

 

Keith couldn’t believe that Sendak was dead. But he couldn’t revel in the relief for long. The adrenaline of the fight seeped out of him and left him with two very crucial facts. One, he was in a lot of pain. He survived Sendak’s attack, but he was far from unharmed. He couldn’t feel his right leg below the knee. The vampire couldn’t bring himself to look because he already knew that there was nothing to see. The blood loss that came along with a lost limb was a major issue as well.

 

The second thing, however, was the one that scared him more. Shiro. Shiro was _here._ Right now, right here.

 

Shiro.

 

Keith felt like he was going to be sick. Then he heard Shiro’s voice and, for the second time that night, his heart nearly stopped.

 

“…Keith?”

 

The vampire squeezed his eyes shut, hating the fact that he could already feel himself beginning to cry. _Why did this have to happen?_ he thought over and over. _Of all people, why Shiro? Why did Shiro have to see me like this? Why did Shiro have to know?_

_Why did he have to know that I’m a monster?_

“I’m s-sorry…!” he choked out. “I’m sorry, Shiro –I’m sorry! I didn’t… I didn’t want you to- to see… I didn’t want you to hate me… I-I-”

 

The boy was interrupted by Shiro’s arm wrapping around him and holding him as if he was too afraid to let go. His eyes opened in shock.

  

“I’m so glad,” Shiro spoke, softly. “I’m so glad you’re alive.”

 

And then Keith broke down. He hated to cry, especially in front of other people, but right now he didn’t care. All the self-hate and fear that he had harbored for the past six years just poured out of him and the only thing that was on his mind now was that _Shiro was here_.

 

-


	8. The Ticking Clock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith is in bad shape after the fight with Sendak and the group has to make some tough decisions.

-

 

Everything after his reunion with Shiro was a blur and at some point he’s pretty sure that he blacked out.

 

When he came to, he knew that he was in Lance’s bed again and that he felt like shit. The pain in his leg was excruciating and he was starving. He forced his eyes open and saw that everyone was crammed into the small bedroom. They all seemed tense and he was pretty sure they were shouting, but his head hurt too much to know for sure. For the first couple minutes, everything just blurred together into a muffled roar. Shiro was the first one to notice he was awake. Relief washed over the older boy’s face.

 

“Keith, hey buddy. It’s okay, you’re okay -you’re gonna be fine,” he assured him. “I know that it hurts right now but we think that your body is trying to, well, uh, replace what you lost earlier.” _That makes sense,_ Keith thought. He had never had to regrow a missing limb before, but he had seen other vampires do it. He didn’t think it would hurt so much though.

 

Keith tried to sit up, but Shiro immediately stopped him, telling him that it was better to keep still and try to rest for now rather than waste any energy doing anything else. The vampire then noticed the cold feeling around his wrists and realized that he was shackled in place. Both of his wrists were kept tight against the bedframe and his (remaining) foot was shackled at the end of the bed. He instinctively tried to pull against the strong metal that kept him tied down.

 

“No, no, no,” Shiro said nervously. “You need to stay still for now, okay? We put those there when you were thrashing around in your sleep. I promise, you’re going to be fine.”

 

It was too much at once. Being restrained only made Keith feel more anxious and his breathing was fast and short. The pain also only seemed to be getting worse and he had no idea how much longer this was going to last. Nothing was helping him feel any better. He wanted to say something to Shiro, let him know how he was feeling or maybe ask him if his leg was making any progress. However, when he opened his mouth the only thing that came out was, “…hungry…”

 

Shiro’s eyes widened with concern and he exchanged uneasy looks with the other hunters in the room.

 

“We, uh, we’ll find you something,” Shiro stuttered. “Don’t worry, buddy.” Keith wasn’t convinced and he actually regretted saying anything at all, but he was too overwhelmed and exhausted to do anything other than just nod.

 

-

 

Keith looked awful.

 

He kept switching between whimpering and crying out in pain as he thrashed around. Pidge had packed strong restraints before their fight with Sendak as a precaution, but they were to be used for him rather than for the vampire that had become their friend. Still, it was good that they had them.

 

It broke Lance’s heart to see Keith in so much pain. And when the vampire finally came back to consciousness, the hunter almost wished that he had stayed out a little longer. He woke up only to be suffocated by pain and fear. It made sense that re-growing a limb would be hell on the body, even for a vampire. But Lance was pretty sure that it was the lack of blood that was making this worse than it would have been otherwise. His thoughts kept going back to the first night when he took the boy in.

 

It was when Keith whispered to Shiro that he was hungry, that Lance decided that something needed to be done. The vampire’s voice was smaller than he had ever heard it. He needed blood and preferably soon.

 

“Shiro,” Lance spoke up and Shiro left Keith’s side to join him across the room. “We can’t keep waiting, he _needs_ blood. His leg doesn’t look like it has made any improvement since we got here and he only seems to be feeling worse by the second.”

 

“I know,” Shiro sighed, sounding defeated. “But getting him the blood he needs is an issue. Even if all of us pitched in a little -which I’m against as you and Pidge both have injuries of your own- I doubt it would be enough. He’s lost _a lot_ of blood and his body needs a surplus of it just to start making progress on his leg. Right now it’s probably pulling every drop it can find into the energy needed for him to heal, but that’s only putting a huge strain on the rest of his body.”

 

“We can’t just keep waiting though!” Lance argued. Shiro let out a long breath.

 

“I know,” he said solemnly. “Which is why we have to start considering other options.”

 

“What do you mean?” It was Pidge who spoke up this time. Pidge had noticed where the conversation seemed to be headed and, along with Hunk, walked over to where the other two were and joined in.

 

“I have one idea and a little while ago I realized that it would be something that we’d have to consider eventually anyway,” Shiro’s voice made it clear that it wasn’t an idea that he was thrilled about.

 

Lance looked over at Keith who didn’t even seem to be aware that the group was having a discussion. He looked like he was going to pass out again any minute.

 

“The Garrison offers, what they call, ‘pardons’ to certain vampires as requested by hunters.” The three younger hunters all looked surprised. Shiro continued, “It’s not as good as it sounds though –it’s more complicated than just a ‘pardoning’. What they really mean is that they may approve a hunter’s request to capture and keep a vampire that they deem useful.

 

“I’m not surprised that you don’t know about it because this isn’t made common knowledge. I found out about it about a year ago when I captured a vampire that I knew held a lot of key information about this mystery organization among the vampires. I brought it to Headquarters and was surprised when they asked if I wanted to request ‘ownership’ of it. They explained that I could keep it and use it however I needed to …or wanted to,” he added with an uncomfortable expression. “I would be listed as its official ‘owner’ and thus, if this vampire ever got loose, I would be held at least partially responsible for any damage done. But the organization would provide weekly blood rations for it and, as far as I know, leave all major decisions concerning the vampire’s fate up to me.

 

“To be honest, the idea of keeping the one that I had caught made me uncomfortable, to say the least. I didn’t want to deal with it any longer than I had to, so I was by no means planning on keeping it as some sort of bizarre ‘pet’. I handed it over to them and never heard a word more about it.

 

“But now, while the idea makes me uncomfortable for different reasons, I believe it might be our best option. We would be able to ensure that Keith gets the care he needs to heal, the food he needs and he would be pardoned by the organization. This would also mean that we could keep him safe and keep him with us without any worry. I’m sure you all already know this, but if we are caught taking care of him or even just associating with him despite knowing his identity, all of us will be punished. We will, at the very least, lose our status as hunters and Keith will… undoubtedly be executed.”

 

Lance could tell that it pained Shiro to say it, but all four of the humans knew it was true. The idea made him nervous and angry –with who, he wasn’t sure- but he also knew that Shiro was right. Despite everything, this probably was the best option they had.

 

“Obviously if we go through with this idea, we will do our best to make sure that Keith doesn’t feel trapped or in any way ‘beneath us’, but the fact still is,” Shiro paused, “…that, vampire or not, this is essentially a form of _enslavement_.”

 

The room was quiet. Nobody wanted to be the next one to speak, so Lance stepped up.

 

“But you said that it’s probably the only option that will protect him …right?”

 

Shiro nodded, “It’s the only thing I can think of that will keep him from being killed by the Garrison. But, even so, we should talk about this with him first before we take any steps further.”

 

Lance was grateful that Shiro offered to do that himself. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to do it. Instead he left the room, followed by Hunk and Pidge. They closed the door behind them and stood in silence for a what, to him, felt like hours –that is, until Hunk spoke.

 

“This is all my fault,” he said, his words filled with guilt.

 

“It’s not your fault, Hunk,” Pidge responded immediately.

 

“But if I were quicker then maybe-”

 

“It’s not your fault,” the smaller hunter interrupted. “Everything happens really quickly when you’re in battle –you know that. You briefly had a blind spot and Keith made the decision to cover you. He _chose_ to take a hit for you. He probably used himself as a shield with the mindset of ‘vampires have superior healing’ or something.”

 

“That seems like something he’d do,” Lance muttered, mostly to himself.

 

“But now look what happened because of that,” Hunk added.

 

“It doesn’t make it your fault though,” Lance said, agreeing with Pidge.

 

“Yeah,” Pidge continued, “the only one to blame for this is Sendak.”

 

“I guess,” Hunk said, not entirely convinced. He was still full of regret, wondering what he could have done differently to prevent this.

 

Then Shiro joined them out in the hall.

 

Three heads immediately turned towards him in anticipation of what he was going to say. Shiro closed the door behind him and merely sighed. Lance noticed a cut on the inside of the hunter’s hand that wasn’t there before.

 

“I told him that he should spend some time thinking it over. It’s a lot to process, especially when you aren’t in the best shape to begin with,” he paused, glancing at his hand. “I gave him some blood in hopes that it might help a bit with that, but I doubt it will last long.”

 

“We could’ve helped with that,” Hunk said, but Shiro just shook his head with a tired smile.

 

“It’s okay -maybe if we have to resort to it again …but I was fine. To be honest, I wanted to be able to do something for him. Though,” he added a bit sheepishly, “if you don’t mind, maybe you could help me get this cleaned. It’s kind of hard doing things one-handed.”

 

-

 

It was about an hour later when the sound of chains rattling filled the quiet room, signaling Keith was either moving in his sleep or awake. Lance had been nodding off, but quickly woke up at the sound.

 

“Lance…?” Keith asked, sounding unsure and dazed.

 

“Yeah, it’s me. I’m here,” he gently reassured him. He got up from his chair stationed beside the bed and, instead, sat on the edge of the bed itself. “How are you doing?”

 

Keith closed his eyes and sighed.

 

“Okay, maybe that was the wrong question to ask,” Lance added with a hint of a teasing smile.

 

Keith opened his eyes once more and looked back at Lance. “It’s okay… I just-” His words were cut off when he groaned in pain. Lance felt powerless as he watched him struggle to tolerate the pain. When the vampire spoke again, his voice was even smaller, “…hurts a lot…”

 

“I know,” Lance said sadly, “But you’re gonna be all right. We’re going to make sure that you are all right, okay?” He paused and quickly scanned the room. Pidge had left to go to the hospital not long ago to take care of their own injuries and Hunk had gone with them. Shiro was staying in the room with him to watch over Keith, but it looked like he stepped out for a bit without Lance realizing. The hunter took the opportunity to do what Shiro had earlier told him not to do. He rolled up his sleeve and extended his arm out in front of Keith with a quiet “here”. When the vampire just gave him a confused look, he explained. “You should take some –you need it. Shiro is under the impression that I lost more blood that I actually did. Honestly, most of my injuries just boil down to bruising so I’ll be fine.”

 

“Are you sure?” Keith asked. Lance nodded and quickly got up to loosen the restraints on the vampire’s wrists, letting him sit upright and use his arms. Keith then hesitantly took hold of Lance’s arm and brought it up to his mouth. His lips trembled as they hovered over the tan arm in his grasp, but he eventually gave in and bit into it.

 

Lance couldn’t help but to wince as Keith’s teeth sunk into his skin. It wasn’t unbearable by any means, but, like the first time Keith fed from him, the initial bite caused sharp sting of pain to go through him. After that though, it didn’t really hurt. It just felt strange to have someone biting into you and lapping up the blood. All in all, Lance felt that it wasn’t that bad though.

 

“Thank you,” Keith said as he finished. He quickly followed with an, “I’m sorry…”

 

“You don’t have to apologize,” Lance said. He was quiet for a moment before adding, “I should be thanking you, honestly. I mean, yeah, you did come after I urged you not to… but by doing so you saved Hunk. And you saved me. And who knows how that fight would have ended if things had gone differently. So… thank you. Thank you for being stubborn enough to go after us anyway and,” he paused, “brave and selfless enough to do what you did out there.”

 

Lance cupped Keith’s cheek and smiled as the other boy leaned into his hand. The vampire was still in really bad shape and his face was a sick pale, but in that moment, he seemed more at ease than he had been since the attack. Lance knew that it wasn’t going to last long though. The blood that he provided was currently helping with the hunger, but it would soon be pulled through the boy’s body to try to work on re-growing his foot. But since it wasn’t nearly enough blood, it would struggle to make any repairs _and_ make Keith sick with hunger yet again. There was no winning with the way things were now.

 

The hunter figured that Keith’s thoughts must have been somewhere similar to his own because the vampire broke the silence by saying, “I think I’m going to do it, by the way…”

 

Lance didn’t have to ask what he was referring to. “There might still be something else we can try that we haven’t thought of yet.”

 

“Like what?” Keith said, rather than asked. “Even _if_ there were some other way of getting enough blood, and it’s very unlikely that there is unless you guys want to go out and hunt people yourselves, but even if there were, we’d still… I’d still be causing problems for you. If you get caught letting me live with you… I just- I just don’t want to be some ‘dangerous secret’ that you have to keep, you know? I don’t want your lives to be ruined as a price for sparing mine.”

 

“Keith…” Lance’s voice was quiet. “This is your _life_ we’re talking about though. Sure, my job is important, but it’ll never be more important than the life of someone I care about. Never for a second.”

 

“For all I know, I’d be putting more than just your career in danger and I don’t want to risk it. I don’t want to be the reason that the only good things in my fucking life get punished …or worse.” When Lance was silent, Keith continued. “This system, or whatever, that they have set up is fucked up, but, for us, it’s a fucked up _blessing_ when you consider the alternatives.” He sighed. “Honestly, as long as I can stay out of your organization’s custody, I’m not worried about it. You all are good enough people that I feel like you’d manage to turn this into an actual good thing –or at least closer than anyone else would ever be able to do. So it’s fine.”

 

Lance bit his lip and looked at his friend. The vampire was literally sitting on his bed _dying_ , but he still managed to look firm in his decision. The hunter also couldn’t argue some of the points that were brought up –Keith was right when he said it was a “fucked up blessing”- but the whole idea still made him uneasy. Keith had just reunited with Shiro and things were supposed to be good now. They could all spend time together and Keith could be _happy_. And now Lance was afraid that this was going to make all of that fall apart. But… if they didn’t do this then there was a good chance that Keith wouldn’t even be around long enough for him to feel like he was part of the group.

 

“Okay,” Lance finally says. “If you’re sure, then we can do it. _But_ you know that if they do anything that’s going too far or if you ever feel really awful about being in the situation, then you can bet your ass that we’ll figure out a way to back out of this. If it comes down to it, maybe we can all leave the city and start a farm or something. The country air, the sunshine, er, okay, maybe not the sunshine for you…”

 

Keith snorted and Lance was relieved to find a smile on his face. “You’re an idiot. But okay, that sounds good. We’ll live as fugitives on a farm with some cows and shit. Well, I mean, maybe that specific example is a little unlikely, but your point was made. If it’s really shitty, then we’ll look at ways to fix it and if it’s not bad, then we’ll celebrate that we cheated their system and made it work out in our favor.”

 

“I guess it’s settled then,” Lance smiled. Somehow a spark of hope lit somewhere inside him. Maybe they really _could_ make this work out in their favor.

 

“Except one thing,” Keith added. His smile was now gone and replaced with a nervous expression.

 

“What? What’s wrong?”

 

“It’s not like it’s a joint thing, right? So we have to decide who wants to …“sponsor” me.”

 

Lance mouth made a silent “o” and he pondered for a moment before saying, “I mean, that should be your decision. I’m sure any of us would be fine with it so it’s just up to who you would feel the most comfortable with, you know?”

 

Keith nodded, but kept his gaze lowered. It looked like he was struggling to get the words out. “I was thinking… though it doesn’t have to … I mean, they’d be fine too, I’m sure, but … I, uh, I mean…” He paused, Lance waited patiently. “…I was gonna ask if… you would be the one… to do it…”

 

Lance was surprised, to be honest. Sure, he and Keith had become close over the past weeks and they were even living together now, but he figured that Shiro would be the more likely candidate for the job. “Me? Are you sure?”

 

The vampire nodded, still unable to make eye contact. “I mean, I don’t know Pidge or Hunk all that well yet and Shiro… Shiro’s my only real connection to my human life and I kind of wanted to keep that …if I could.”

 

“So it’s just me by process of elimination?” Lance teased, raising an eyebrow. Keith surprised him again by blushing slightly in response.

 

“That and…” he trailed off and it took him a moment to try again. “And I kind of like living here… with you… kind of.”

 

“Aw! Keith likes spending time with me. That’s so cute!” Lance teased. His grin only grew when he noticed Keith’s blush deepen.

 

“On second thought, I’ll ask Shiro,” Keith said. The vampire tried to go for an exasperated look or maybe even a glare, but it was clear that his heart wasn’t it. He couldn’t help but to match Lance’s smile.

 

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! :)  
> I wanted to give an extra thank you to all of you who leave comments. Even just a few simple words really brighten up my day -thank you! <3
> 
> And, as always, thank you for reading and I hope you all continue to enjoy the story! :)


	9. I Don't Want This for You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance wonders if they made a mistake and Shiro reminisces about the past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTE: 
> 
> While there is no gore or violence of that kind in this chapter, there is harsh mistreatment/force-feeding. I don't want to upset anyone so thought I would let you all know ahead of time in case that is something that you are not comfortable reading.

-

 

Shiro entered the room and his face lit up when he saw Keith sitting upright. But it only took a moment for the look to fade as he examined the scene in front of him and he realized _why_ the vampire was sitting upright. He sighed as he walked over to the bedside where the two boys were.

 

“I thought I told you not to give him blood while you’re injured.”

 

“Sorry,” Lance said sheepishly. “I’m fine though.” Shiro sighed again, but didn’t press the matter further. He turned to Keith with a small smile.

 

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

 

“Okay, I guess…” Keith said. It was true that the blood was helping him for the time being, but he would be lying if he said he wasn’t still feeling like shit. Shiro looked at him with understanding.

 

“Don’t worry, we’re going to try to get you better soon, okay?” he said. Keith just nodded. “I was actually just on the phone with Allura. I… uh, I explained our situation to her and asked for her thoughts on things. Since she was recently promoted to work at Headquarters, I figured she would be able to provide some insight on how things would work if we decide to go through with this.”

 

“What did she say?” Lance asked.

 

“Who’s Allura?” Keith added not a beat later. He noticed the faint blush that appeared on Shiro’s face at the question.

 

“Allura is Shiro’s girlfriend,” Lance said in his teasing tone. Shiro cleared his throat awkwardly before continuing with his story. Keith couldn’t help but to smile. He was happy that his friend had found someone who he liked. He hoped that this ‘Allura’ person made him happy.

 

“Anyway,” Shiro continued, “Allura agrees that this is the only option that will guarantee Keith’s safety. But she said that we have to remember that she is using the word ‘guarantee’ loosely. If the Garrison finds out that we are actually friends with Keith and are just using their system to protect him, then we could be in trouble. But, that being said, as long as we don’t do anything drastic, then that shouldn’t happen. She explained that the Garrison doesn’t hold much suspicion for hunters who partake in this system. You can think of it almost as an equivalent of hiding in plain sight.”

 

“It still sounds like we are taking a risk though…” Lance said.

 

“There’s probably not any way to avoid risk short from just leaving me out to die somewhere,” Keith added. He was taken aback by the amount of hurt on both of his friends’ faces. Guilt washed over him as his words left the room quiet. Then, thankfully, Shiro spoke up.

 

“That option is not on the table,” he said, directing a sad smile towards the vampire. “We’re not going to give up on you, buddy. Everyone is in agreement on this.”

 

Keith couldn’t meet Shiro’s eyes after that. Despite being incredibly thankful for it, the whole idea that these people would go above and beyond to try to keep him safe baffled him. He didn’t understand what he had done to deserve such kindness. He didn’t understand why they –why anyone- would care so much for someone like him.

 

Without looking up, Keith finally spoke again. “Me and Lance were talking before you came back in… I, uh, I decided that I’m going to do it.”

 

“…Are you sure?” Shiro asked, his voice low. _Why did he sound so heartbroken?_ Keith wondered.

 

“It’s the best option we’re gonna get,” the vampire continued. “And it’s fine, really. We’ll make it work.” Silence followed, but then another small, sad smile made its way onto Shiro’s face and he leaned over to put his hand on the vampire’s shoulder.

 

“We’ll make it work,” Shiro agreed and gave the other boy’s shoulder a squeeze.

 

-

 

Lance couldn’t stop pacing in his bedroom.

 

They had officially made the decision to go through with the plan and Shiro made the call to Headquarters. Now the staff from the Garrison was on their way and Lance couldn’t calm his nerves. Shiro had even reminded him how important it was to put on a convincing act, but the younger hunter still struggled to get into that role. How could he pretend to be nonchalant and dismissive towards Keith when the vampire was back to hissing in pain and struggling to control his breathing? All he wanted to do was be by his side and try to comfort him, but he knew that he couldn’t do that once the Garrison arrived. He just hoped that they wouldn’t prolong their stay when they finally arrived.

 

It was nearly three hours after Shiro called when the knock on the door sounded through the small apartment. Lance was by Keith’s side again, squeezing his hand in his own when he heard it. He gave the vampire’s hand one last firm squeeze before looking up at Shiro and following him out of the room.

 

Lance counted five people as they made their way into the apartment. Two of them were holding plastic buckets and another one walked in carrying a duffle bag. One of the other staff members, only carrying a clipboard and a small stack of papers approached him as the rest of them followed where Shiro directed them down the hall.

 

“Sanchez?” the man asked. His tone was direct in a way that gave Lance the impression that he didn’t like to waste any time.

 

“Er, yeah,” he answered, trying not to seem nervous.

 

The man swung the clipboard to face him and gestured to various points on the page. He explained that he needed to sign a few forms for legal purposes and Lance did as he was told. The official was explaining some of the regulations when a pained scream echoed from down the hall. It broke the hunter’s heart into pieces, but he quickly tried to disguise his concern as mere discomfort.

 

When the two finished up, they joined the rest of the Garrison staff members in the small bedroom. Lance grit his teeth with anger at the sight. When the official went to talk to one of the other staff, Lance used the opportunity to talk to Shiro. From a distance, Shiro seemed unfazed, but upon closer inspection, the boy noticed the look in his eyes that told him that he was anything but.

 

“Why can’t they just let him drink it himself?” Lance whispered, not hiding the anger behind his words. He watched as the staff forced the blood from the buckets into a long tube that they had shoved down the vampire’s throat.

 

“They need to give him blood to heal, but they don’t want him to get any pleasure out of it. I guess they figure this is the only way that he wouldn’t taste it…” Shiro responded, his voice low. Lance couldn’t bring himself to say anything else. He didn’t feel that anything he could say would really convey how cruel what they were doing was.

 

They emptied both buckets before finally removing the tube. Keith just looked exhausted, his eyes unfocused and half-lidded. Lance almost lost his composure when they pulled out what could only be described as a ‘muzzle’ and fastened it around the vampire’s jaw. After it was secured and his restraints were checked, they began examining him. First, they checked his foot and affirmed that the beginning signs of reconstruction were taking place. Then they shined a small flashlight into his eyes, though Lance wasn't sure what exactly they were checking there. Whatever it was though, they seemed content with the results. Notes were being quickly jotted down as they worked. The Garrison staff finished up by taking a small blood sample and then pulled a black metal band out of their bag.

 

The band snapped together as it was placed around Keith’s neck. It was no more than a half of an inch in height and it was a smooth solid black. The hunter thought that it looked like some kind of a choker. When it snapped on, however, it made a quiet electric ‘zap’ that caused the vampire to flinch in pain.

 

After that, the official approached Lance once more and gave him additional information about what the Garrison provided. The choker couldn’t be removed, but the muzzle was optional and could be locked and unlocked by activating a scanner on the back. They guided him through the steps of getting his fingerprint recognized by the scanner. They also handed him six water bottles filled to the rim with blood. The official explained that the vampire needed to drink two a day until his foot was at least mostly regrown –which they estimated would take about two days. Then afterwards, the Garrison would provide weekly rations that equaled to approximately one bottle a day. They explained that this was an adequate amount for them to live off of and not to listen if the vampire claimed it wasn’t enough.

 

After everything was settled, they didn’t waste a moment more and were gone. Lance was beyond relieved to see them finally leave. He closed and locked the apartment door behind them and immediately rushed back to the bedroom. He didn’t stop for a second until he was by Keith’s side, unlocking and pulling off the damned muzzle that they had put on him. At the same time, Shiro undid the restraints, helped him sit up to lean against the bed’s headboard and then began to rub circles on the vampire’s back. Both hunters sat on either side of the bed, trying their best to comfort their friend. Lance had held onto his hand like before and rubbed his thumb gently against the other boy’s skin. He could feel the vampire’s hand trembling.

 

Keith’s expression was still blank and his eyes tired and full of unshed tears. He didn’t look up at all, but made a point to give Lance’s hand a small squeeze. The hunters looked at each other, silently worrying and unsure of what to do. When they noticed that Keith was struggling to keep his eyes open, they recommended that he try to get some sleep and reminded him that they would be right here if he needed them. The vampire gave them a small nod before slowly lowering himself back down onto the bed and closing his eyes. Lance quickly dashed to grab a spare pillow and a new blanket to replace the ones that were now covered in sweat and blood. He carefully exchanged the old set for the other and made sure Keith was comfortable. The hunter also went and turned the thermostat down to make the room cold the way that he knew Keith liked it.

 

After everything was situated, he handed Shiro a blanket and grabbed another for himself. The two hunters both picked a spot in the room to sit down and doze off for a bit. Before Lance turned off the lights, he looked over at Keith, already fast asleep, and noticed that the previously unshed tears had run down his face.

 

-

 

Lance couldn’t sleep.

 

All of the events from the day wouldn’t stop replaying in his head and he couldn’t bring himself to relax enough to sleep. After what had to have been at least a couple hours, he got up and quietly left the room to grab a drink. It was getting close to sunset, but his living room was still shining with the glow of the autumn sun. He grabbed himself a can of soda from the refrigerator. He knew that the caffeine wasn’t going to help him fall asleep, but since he figured that he wasn’t going to get any sleep anyway, he didn’t care.

 

The hunter stayed out in the kitchen for a while even after finishing his drink and then finally returned to his bedroom. Upon entering, he noticed that Shiro was awake. He wasn’t sure if he had just woken up or if the other hunter was finding it hard to sleep too. He couldn’t blame him.

 

“I take it you can’t sleep?” Shiro asked as Lance slowly closed the door behind him. The boy just nodded and Shiro gave him an understanding smile before turning back to look at Keith. The room was quiet until Lance’s words began to spill out.

 

“It’s not fair.”

 

“I know,” Shiro replied, his shoulders dropping.

 

“He’s probably traumatized by all of that shit that they pulled. I would be –hell, I can’t sleep and I’m not even the one who had to experience it.” Shiro simply kept his eyes on Keith’s form on the bed, a heartbroken look on his face. After the silence stretched for a few minutes, Lance spoke up again. “I want to do something for him. I want to try to give him something to be happy about and maybe get his mind off of everything for a bit.”

 

Shiro hummed in agreement and then suddenly his eyes widened slightly –an idea crossing his mind. “I wonder if he’d be happy to see his old things. I still have a box of them at my apartment.”

 

“A box of Keith’s stuff?” Lance asked, confused. Then he remembered. _Right_ , he thought, _technically, as far as the rest of the world knew, Keith Kogane was dead._ “That’s a good idea though. He might be happy to have some parts of his old life back.”

 

Shiro smiled. “Yeah. I mean, it isn’t much –Keith didn’t have a whole lot to start with- but honestly I think his old jacket alone might bring a smile to his face. He loved it –he wore that thing everywhere back in high school.” The man chuckled softly to himself at the memory. This time Lance smiled too.

 

“What was Keith like? As a kid, I mean.”

 

“Well, he was known for being quite a troublemaker,” Shiro pondered aloud, his smile fading slightly after he spoke. “In some ways he definitely was, but…” He paused. “Other times, I feel that it was a case of lack of understanding. He struggled a lot and most of faculty and staff at both his middle school and high school, I feel, only looked at him through that lens instead of actually making an effort to understand what was going on from his point of view. In a lot of cases, this revolved around fighting. Keith had a bit of a temper and he wasn’t afraid to fight back, but he never went around _looking_ for a fight, you know?”

It was both interesting and a bit strange to hear about Keith’s childhood from Shiro. He almost felt like he was invading on something as the hunter reminisced about Keith and their earlier years together.

 

“What about his parents?” Lance found himself asking. “They never stuck up for him or anything either?”

 

Shiro’s eyes widened at the question. He looked surprised and hesitated before answering. “He never told you?” When Lance just looked confused, Shiro continued. “Keith’s an orphan. He spent practically his whole life shifting between foster homes and living at the orphanage.”

 

Lance didn’t think his heart could break any more than it already had during the past twenty-four hours. He was proven wrong.

 

“No, he… he never mentioned that,” was all the boy could manage to say. Shiro looked at him sympathetically. In that moment, Lance only became more determined to put Plan “Make Keith Happy” in motion.

 

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter was a bit shorter than usual. ;;  
> I wanted to start to get into the comfort scenes but I've been struggling with my depression flaring up so I haven't been able to write as much lately. I am sticking with the story though, don't worry! 
> 
> Also, as a little thank you for your support, I made just a little, silly doodle for the story. You can check it out on my twitter [here](https://twitter.com/kurisu_kuma/status/804472667189420032). (Don't worry, the happy/comfort scenes are coming soon! ;A; There's no way I can write so much angst and pain without at least giving the boys a break.) 
> 
> Doodle: <https://twitter.com/kurisu_kuma/status/804472667189420032>


	10. Lost and Found

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and the gang help Keith recover and other familiar faces try to ruin a good day.

-

 

It had been over a week since that day, but the memories of it were still fresh in Lance’s mind. Though, on the bright side, Keith was looking considerably better than before.

 

The first few days after the hunter representatives came to his apartment, the vampire had been, understandably, a bit out of it. He was quieter than usual and spent more time sleeping than doing anything else. Despite being worried, Lance gave him the space he felt he needed. He didn’t leave the apartment, but he didn’t force any activities or even conversation. Then once Keith’s foot had fully healed, he began encouraging the other to get out of bed. The hunter had hoped that Keith would be eager to be on his feet again, but that didn’t prove to be the case. It took some persuasion just to get him to get up and try walking around.

 

Thankfully, after some initial unsteady steps, it didn’t take the vampire long to get used to using his repaired (new?) foot. Once that problem was solved, it was just the other battle left to worry about. Lance felt that steps were slowly being made as Keith, a bit reluctantly, began to participate in his ideas of things to do. One night, when they had a movie night, he was finally able to get a genuine smile out of him. It warmed his heart to see it again.

 

Another night, the gang all gathered in his small apartment and had a game night. Hunk and Shiro both brought over some alcohol and Pidge and Lance supplied the games. They all had agreed not to play Monopoly, but somehow late into the night they all ended up crowding around the board and doing just that. Lance woke up that night at five in the morning. Everyone had passed out in his living room around their unfinished Monopoly game. Hunk had previously brought over a set of dark, heavy curtains for the large living room windows to keep the light out better, but Lance still decided that it wouldn’t hurt to bring Keith back into his own room where there was no risk of light exposure. He was never more thankful for his upper body strength, though he still struggled to carry the other due to their nearly identical heights.

 

He gently laid him down on his bed and was about to turn to leave when he noticed Keith’s eyes crack open. He quietly apologized for waking him up, but the boy just shook his head, still half asleep, and muttered a small ‘thank you’ before nuzzling into the pillow.

 

Each day, the vampire seemed to become closer and closer to their usual self and for that, Lance was glad. When Shiro came over and brought with him a box of Keith’s old things, the two hunters watched with fondness as their friend’s face lit up. His eyes glistened as he took out the various items, recounting to Shiro different memories that were attached to them. He was ecstatic to discover that his old GameBoy still worked and that his old jacket still fit him. Shiro sent a knowing smile in Lance’s direction as Keith wasted no time before putting the familiar red jacket on and neglecting to take it off after confirming that it fit.

 

Now it had been over a week, and though there were still moments where Keith became quiet or spaced out, he was making incredible progress. So, for the first time since everything happened, the hunter suggested an activity that required leaving the apartment.

 

“It’s at that big park on the other side of the city. So we’ll have to take the subway probably, but the concert itself is a free family event or something,” Lance explained. “And don’t worry about the sun. We’d probably have to leave around six or so, but with the days getting shorter, the sun should be setting by then. And we’ll be underground on the subway so you won’t have to worry about it then.”

 

Keith fiddled with his fingers as he thought it over. “What’s the subway like?” Lance’s eyes widened, but Keith answered his question before he even asked. “It was never an option. No money.”

 

“Not even before?”

 

“I didn’t live in a big city when I was younger. I just took the bus everywhere.”

 

“Well,” Lance declared, “it can be your first time then -it’ll be fun! I mean, it’s nothing special and might be a bit crowded and stinky, but if you stay by me, you’ll fine. You don’t have to worry about anything.”

 

“All right,” the vampire finally agreed with a small smile. Lance gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder and then got up to send a message to the group chat, letting everyone know that it was a go.

 

The next day it was mid-afternoon when Lance began to get ready. Keith raised an eyebrow and gave him a look for needing so much time to get ready, but the hunter just stuck his tongue out at him childishly and left to take a shower. He wasn’t surprised when Keith chose to wear his jacket out and he resisted the urge to tease him about it. His smile faltered, however, when he noticed the vampire staring in the mirror tracing his fingers over the metal band around his neck. It wasn’t that it stood out as something really odd –it looked like a choker that Lance could see passing as some sort of “punk” fashion- but he knew that Keith saw it only for what it was in the Garrison’s eyes.

 

Determined, he pushed clothes aside as he searched his closet for a specific article of clothing. Finally, he found it and pulled out the large, red scarf. When he extended it out to Keith, the boy just looked at it in question.

 

“Are you trying to ask me if you think it goes with your clothes?” he squinted, confused. “I thought we already established that I’m not the one with strong fashion sense in this apartment.”

 

“No, dummy,” Lance rolled his eyes, with amusement rather than annoyance. “It’s for you. It’s gonna be cold out.”

 

Keith looked like he was about to argue something along the lines of ‘vampires have a high tolerance for cold’ before his eyes softened and he seemed to understand the hunter’s true reasoning. He took the scarf and directed a warm smile at Lance as he said, “Thank you.”

 

The journey to the park went surprisingly smoothly. Hunk met up with them outside and the three of them went into the nearest subway entrance, hurrying slightly to minimize the amount of time spent in the sun. Lance showed Keith how the tickets worked and linked arms with him as they boarded. Unfortunately, due to the time of day, it was crowded so Lance kept their arms linked as they stood amidst the crowd of passengers. Noticing he was nervous, Hunk kept the vampire’s mind occupied by showing him pictures on his phone of his parents’ new puppy.

 

When they arrived at the park, Shiro and Pidge were together waiting at their pre-planned meeting spot. They exchanged greetings and made their way into the park where the event was already beginning.

 

-

 

Keith was relieved when they finally got off of the crowded subway and back out under the open sky. It had made him feel claustrophobic, even with Hunk and Lance’s efforts to ease his anxiety. The park, on the other hand, was full of people for the concert event, but it was a large open space and it wasn’t so crowded that they were packed together. It was a type of crowd that he could deal with.

 

The sun had set and the cool evening air was a welcome blessing. The actual performance wasn’t anything particularly impressive, in Keith’s mind, but it brought about a nice atmosphere and it was still special. It took him a moment to realize that it was a sense of normalcy that he was feeling. Something that somehow felt both unfamiliar and nostalgic. He was at an outdoor concert with _friends_. It was something that, before meeting Lance and everyone and reuniting with Shiro, he didn’t even hold any hope for experiencing again. At the time, he had figured it to be too improbable to hope for and yet here he was now. It was something he wouldn’t trade for anything.

 

After some time, the group wandered to a snack stand and bought a bunch of drinks and snacks. Keith was surprised when Lance claimed to have brought something for him. The hunter pulled his backpack off one of his shoulders and reached inside, pulling out one of his reusable water bottles. It was one that was insulated and non-transparent. “Don’t want you feeling left out,” he smiled as he handed it to the vampire.

 

Keith snapped open the top and sniffed it hesitantly. His suspicions were confirmed immediately at the scent of blood. He didn’t know what to say. Part of him wanted to scold the boy for bringing a bottle of blood out in public, but it seemed that he had thought about it at least, choosing a bottle that successfully hid the nature of its contents. And he would be lying if he said he wasn’t a bit touched at the notion. He settled with a “thanks” and a smile as he took a sip from the bottle.

 

Yes it was blood, not exactly a normal choice in beverage, but somehow it didn’t take away from how he felt about the night. Maybe it was because, to anyone else, it was just a normal water bottle or maybe it was even some sort of sign of him slowly becoming able to accept himself as being a vampire, as long as he was still loved by his newfound family. He snorted at the thought, but his smile was still in place. _Who knows_ , he thought.

 

When the concert ended, most of the crowd left. The park was quiet, but not empty. There were still quite a few people lingering like the group of hunters were. Keith had finished his bottle of blood and returned it to Lance’s backpack and the group had begun just walking through the park talking, still full of energy as the night was still young for adults their age.

 

It was only when Keith noticed a set of familiar faces in his peripheral that his night was tainted. He grit his teeth, avoiding looking in their direction despite feeling their eyes boring into him. Rolo and Nyma weren’t even from this part of the city, but they had always been attracted to public events so it wasn’t a mystery to him why they were here. He just wished that they weren’t, or at least that they never crossed paths. Lance, Pidge and Hunk were farther in front having some sort of debate while Shiro and Keith lingered slightly behind. Shiro noticed him tense up.

 

“You okay?” he asked gently. Keith nodded stiffly.

 

It wasn’t that he particularly cared about the two vampires, but they (for the most part) hadn’t been malicious towards him and even invited him into their “group”. So he wasn’t about to point them out or expose them in any way unless they gave him reason to. He just hoped that they kept their distance and didn’t cause any trouble.

 

Unfortunately, he did not get his wish.

 

The group continued to spend their time just hanging out with each other and Keith had almost successfully gotten his mind off of the pair of vampires when a scream echoed from somewhere close by. Immediately, the hunters all sprung into action and sprinted in the direction of the scream. Keith trailed behind them, feeling uneasy. Then he saw Nyma.

 

She was a tall, thin girl with strawberry blonde hair. Her face was twisted with fear and tears were running down her cheeks. It was convincing and Keith may have even believed them to be genuine if he didn’t know her. The humans approached her without hesitation, asking if she was okay and what had happened.

 

“A man attacked me …grabbed me,” she spoke, breathing heavily. “I think he was trying to bite me! There were others with him too. I-I was so scared!”

 

Keith narrowed his eyes as Shiro put his hand on her shoulder, trying to console her. She pointed them in the direction where the “attack” happened and the group quickly decided their course of action.

 

Shiro had gotten his new prosthetic a few days prior so he was still getting used to his new one, but, other than that, he was in good health along with Lance and Hunk. Pidge had a cast for their arm that was broken during Sendak’s attack. They decided that it was more likely that they would need manpower down where the vampires were if they were hunting in a pack so they planned for the three of them to go and for Pidge and Keith to stay and make sure Nyma was safe. Part of Keith wanted to expose her right there for having the audacity to pull this whole act just to ruin his night, but he figured that she just wanted to be able to pull him aside to talk and he reluctantly decided it would be better in the long run to just let her say what she wanted to say and then leave him alone.

 

When the other three hunters left to find the group of vampires that didn’t actually exist, Keith was surprised when Nyma began speaking right where they were.

 

“I figured this way you couldn’t just pretend you didn’t see us,” she smirked, her helpless act long gone. Pidge furrowed their brow and shot Nyma a look and then turned to Keith as well, demanding an explanation.

 

“I was hurt earlier, ya know. It’s like we mean nothin’ to you.” Rolo’s voice came out from behind a pair of nearby bushes. As he popped into view, both Pidge and Keith’s eyes were on him and they weren’t expecting Nyma’s sudden movements. In a flash, she shoved Pidge down onto the ground with force and sat on the small of their back, twisting around the small hunter’s good arm and pressing her foot against the other arm in the cast. Rolo shook his head as he approached them, “What have you gotten yourself into, man?”

 

Keith was enraged by their treatment of Pidge and lunged at Nyma, only to be pulled back forcefully by Rolo before he could do her any damage. The taller vampire used the ends of Keith’s scarf to make the fabric tighten around his throat. Keith snarled at him as he tried to wrestle out of his iron grip.

 

“Well?” Rolo pressed. “Are you gonna explain to us what you’re doin’? You know us, always curious.” He paused and glanced at Pidge. “Especially when you’re hangin’ around a group of hunters. Well, I figured they were either hunters or just a group of humans with no sense of danger -which would explain why they’re keeping you around. But Nyma here, see, she had the judgment to determine that they were hunters. You wanna know how?”

 

Rolo laughed when Keith only growled at him in response.

 

“So angry,” he teased, his gaze continuing to eye the hunter struggling under Nyma. “We just wanted to know what’s up, that’s all. See how our old friend was doin’. Wonderin’ why he was playin’ house with a bunch’a humans.”

 

“Mind your own damn business…” Keith spit out, his words venomous.

 

“I’ll never understand why you’re so distrustin’ of us, but yet you naively run toward a bunch’a humans that are obviously usin’ you for who knows what goal,” he raised an eyebrow at Pidge. Keith growled again, but this time Rolo responded by shoving him onto the ground as well, pinning him down. Keith struggled as the taller vampire pulled the red scarf off, revealing the metal choker. Rolo whistled at the sight and Nyma giggled cruelly. “Ya know, I had a suspicion but I’m shocked that I was actually right to suspect it. Shit, man. Th’ worst part is I can totally imagine you _willingly_ gettin’ into this. So desperate for acceptance that you’ll take it even if it’s fake. Either that or you are more naïve and hopeless than we thought. Gettin’ fuckin’ ‘Collared’ is pathetic even for your desperate ass though. Sorry, but it’s th’ truth.”

 

Keith grit his teeth and forced his words out through his snarl, “I said… mind your own fucking business!”

 

“So whose bitch are you, huh?” Nyma spoke up with a twisted smile painted across her face. “Surely, not this tiny one, right? Maybe the handsome one with the fake arm?”

 

In that following moment of rage, Keith finally managed to force himself out of Rolo’s grasp for the second that he needed in order to strike back. He slashed at the other vampire and then pushed him to the ground, his hand tightly squeezing Rolo’s neck. “Let them go and leave us alone! I don’t give a shit about how curious you are –it’s none of your fucking business what I do, so _fuck off._ ”

 

Rolo’s eyes widened, but he quickly regained his composure and smirked, despite his position. He turned towards Nyma and nodded. Keith slowly loosened his hold around the vampire’s neck. “Glad to see that at least part of you isn’t hopeless. Though it’s a bit fucked up that you’re pointin’ that wild rage of yours at us and not them. But maybe once they give up th’ act then you’ll get it.” When Keith just glared at him, Rolo rolled his eyes. “I get it, we’re goin’. We’re just tryin’ to stop ya from bein’ a dumbass and gettin’ yourself killed, but whatever. A lost cause is a lost cause, I guess. Let’s head out, Nyma.”

 

Keith finally let go and got off of Rolo, eyeing him suspiciously as he gathered himself and motioned for Nyma to get up as well. She sighed and reluctantly did so while ruffling Pidge’s hair as though they were simply playing a game. They shot Keith a look as they began to walk away, but said nothing more. Keith kept his eyes narrowed and his body tense as he watched them until they were out of sight. Then he deflated and let out a shaking breath. His chest felt tight with anxiety.

 

“Are you okay?” he finally asked, turning towards Pidge who was sitting upright and wincing as they rolled their shoulder. He couldn’t bring himself to meet the hunter’s eyes.

 

“I’m fine. In need of an explanation though,” they said in a short tone, their face quickly softening, however, when they looked up and saw Keith’s distress. “Whoa, hey, it’s okay. I’m fine. Shit, are you okay?”

 

Keith struggled to breathe. He cursed himself for letting the two vampires get to him, but it was difficult to stop a panic attack once it started. He was shaking and barely registered himself lowering to the ground slowly.

 

“Take it easy, just try to breathe, okay?” Pidge said softly. “Fuck, I never know how to help with these sort of things, I’m sorry. Breathing is supposed to help though, right? I can walk you through it. Ready? Inhale…”

 

The vampire tried to follow along and breathed deep, shaking breaths as his eyes began to betray him and sting with tears. He felt the small hunter’s hand rubbing his back and relaxed a bit into the touch. It took a few more minutes for him to begin to calm down, his chest still tight, but his mind beginning to clear. When he spoke, his voice was small and broken, “I’m sorry…”

 

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it,” Pidge said, still rubbing circles into his back. “Are you doing a bit better? You’re starting to look a bit better.” Keith nodded slowly and Pidge smiled. “We don’t have to talk about what happened right away. But just know that I’m not blaming you or anything, okay? Obviously you knew each other, but that doesn’t make you an accomplice. Honestly, they seemed to hurt you more than me…”

 

Keith was quiet and Pidge pondered, unsure how to say what they wanted to say.

 

“And…” they started, “just know that what they said isn’t true, okay? You’re part of the group.”

 

The boy smiled softly, “Thank you… I’m sorry.”

 

“Nope, no apologies! You don’t have anything to apologize for,” Pidge smiled. “I should call the others and let them know it was a prank. Is that okay?” Keith nodded and the hunter rubbed his back a few more times before getting up and pulling out their phone.

 

When the other three hunters returned, it didn’t take long for them to notice the atmosphere and know that something was wrong. Shiro was the one to ask the question that all three of them were thinking and Pidge pulled them aside to quietly explain what had happened. Keith was still sitting on the ground, leaning against the edge of a park bench. He hugged his knees and kept his gaze on the ground, not wanting to listen to the discussion happening feet away from him. He was spacing out and didn’t notice Lance until he was sitting down next to him.

 

“You all right?” the hunter asked. Keith only nodded, not convincing the other boy. Then suddenly he saw the bright red fabric out of his peripheral and felt as Lance carefully wrapped the scarf loosely around him. “Do you want to head back?”

 

Before he could try to insist that he was fine and that the night shouldn’t end just because of him, his body seemed to move on his own as he nodded his head. Lance gave him a soft smile and wrapped his arm around him, putting his hand on his shoulder and pulling him into a side-hug. They stayed like that for a minute before the hunter gave his shoulder a small squeeze and he stood up. He let the others know that they were going to head back and the rest of the group agreed that that sounded like a good idea. Lance extended his hand to help pull Keith up and then they said quick good-byes before splitting up to head home. Pidge surprised the vampire by giving him a hug.

 

“Thanks for looking out for me,” they smiled. And then they were off.

 

Lance, Hunk and Keith left together, but this time Lance opted that they split a cab rather than take the subway again. Keith knew that he was probably doing that for his sake and, though he felt a bit guilty, he was also grateful.

 

During the ride home, Hunk and Lance were having a conversation about some topic that Keith wasn’t familiar with so he let his mind wander instead. He tried not to think too deeply about what happened in case he triggered a sequel to his panic attack from earlier, but it was hard to get his mind away from the events that had unfolded. If he were to be honest, he wasn’t even sure what part of it triggered the attack itself. He decided that it was probably the combination of everything. Fears of his friends being hurt because of him, fears of what his own future held, fears that he really was being lied to…

 

It wasn’t that he actively believed that Lance and everyone were putting on some sort of “act”, as Rolo put it, and that they didn’t actually see him as their friend. He trusted them full-heartedly and felt the love that they showed him. But it was a fear that, despite that, he wasn’t seen as an equal to them. Or even that, the friendship that he had with them wouldn’t last… What if they saw a side of him that they didn’t like? What if that was enough for them to stop seeing him as a person? Those were the fears that Rolo’s words brought up and twisted in his heart. He felt guilty doubting people who have been so kind to him and who he loved, but, as much of a cliché as it was to say it, it was hard to accept that others love you when you don’t even like yourself.

 

Keith didn’t notice when the taxi had stopped and Lance was paying his fare. A tap on the shoulder brought him out of his thoughts and he gave Hunk a small ‘good-bye’ before leaving the vehicle and following Lance inside the apartment complex.

 

When they got to the room, Keith was ready to quietly make his way to bed, but Lance grabbed his hand gently, stopping him. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, his face etched with worry.

 

“Not really…” He watched as Lance’s shoulders dropped and he pouted. _Damn, why did he have to be cute,_ Keith thought. He sighed, giving in slightly. “It was… it was just a lot at once. They attacked Pidge and…” _Fueled my fears? Made me lose my temper in front of Pidge? Made me feel like a worthless object?_ “…They just harassed me a bit. It’s not a big deal.”

 

Lance sighed, not looking convinced. “I’m not going to force you, but you really can talk to me about it. We’re friends –that’s what friends do.”

 

Keith avoided his eyes, “You already do too much for me…”

 

“Not at all! Everything that I do –that everyone does- for you, we do it because we want to. We do it because we care about you and want you to be happy.”

 

“Why?” Keith said, not intending to sound harsh, but he wondered if he had as he watched Lance’s smile falter.

 

“What do you mean ‘why’?” he almost sounded hurt. When the vampire didn’t answer right away, he continued. “What did they say to you back there?”

 

“They were just trying to get me riled up… but the things they said… they scared me,” he finally confessed, his gaze glued to the floor and his hands balled up into fists. “You’ve done nothing to make me think that you are lying to me or using me, but… I don’t deserve to be treated with so much kindness -I know that I don’t. So I just think about when it’s going to go away. When am I going to lose this? Lose you. And that scares me. Just thinking about the possibility that, maybe even now, I’m not… that I’m not your equal –it hurts. Even if I think that that’s what I deserve, it hurts. It hurts a lot.” He gripped the scarf that still covered the choker around his neck, his hand beginning to shake.

 

“Hey,” Lance closed the space between them and gently took the vampire’s shaking hand in both of his own, encasing it in warmth. “It’s okay. It’s okay that what they said hurt you or scared you. It’s not something to be ashamed of. I mean, I wish that they hadn’t hurt you, but I’m glad that you are telling me now because now I can try to help you. I can tell you that you _do_ deserve kindness. I know you don’t believe me and you don’t see it, but I’m telling you that it’s true. And everyone else thinks so too. And I promise that I’m not going anywhere, okay? Not tomorrow, not the day after. I told you that you were stuck with me for the long run, remember? And stuck with me as friends. Like equals. Honestly, the vampire thing is just like a condition that we happily work around. It just means that we avoid going out on group excursions midday and make sure the fridge is stocked with food for you. Nothing we can’t handle. And it’s definitely not something that makes you less than human in our eyes.” He smiled. “When we say you are part of the group, we mean that you are a part of the group in every sense –just like everyone else.”

 

Keith was at a loss for words. He still didn’t understand how he came to be fortunate enough to have Lance in his life. The boy was like a warm hug personified -not that he would ever actually tell the other that. But he was more than the vampire felt he deserved. And somewhere along the way, he had started to realize that he was maybe, possibly (definitely) developing feelings for him. He knew that he should never act on them and that, despite how friendly the hunter was with him, he wouldn’t feel the same way. But maybe that was all right. Maybe just having him by his side like this could be enough. “Why are you so nice to me?” he finally said, his words soft this time.

 

Lance smiled and wiggled his eyebrows, “I guess I’m just _that_ awesome of a guy.”

 

Keith couldn’t help it. He snorted and smiled as he playfully shoved the other in response.

 

Maybe it could be enough.

 

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for being patient with the delay! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. :) And as always, thank you to everyone continuing to support the story and a special thank you to those who leave comments. I love being able to hear your thoughts so I always, always love reading your comments. 
> 
> Also, thank you to those who stopped by on twitter! I'm glad that you enjoyed the little doodle I put up! <3
> 
> You can follow me here [@kurisu_kuma](https://twitter.com/kurisu_kuma)!


	11. The Gala - Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Domestic living and the introduction of Allura.

-

 

“A what?” Lance asked.

 

“It’s like a fancy party,” Pidge cut in. Lance shot them a look.

 

“I know _what_ a gala is. I meant, like, _why_?” he said, extending his arms out for effect. “Why would the Garrison even organize something like that?”

 

Shiro sighed. “The Garrison actually hosts events like that all of the time. You just find it strange because you always ignore them.”

 

“Honestly, I’ve always been surprised that you don’t care for them. You love celebrations,” Hunk added.

 

“Yeah, celebrations. Events hosted by the Garrison do not seem like they’d actually be celebrations. They are probably just a bunch of those asshole higher-ups giving speeches or something,” Lance groaned. “Label me not interested.”

 

“They may not be the most lively events, but it’s still a lot of socializing and it gives you a better reputation among other hunters and the Garrison’s administration,” Shiro explained. “Which is why it could be a good idea. It wouldn’t hurt to gain their respect a bit.”

 

“I don’t exactly want to attract attention though,” Lance said.

 

“You shouldn’t attract any bad attention by attending. You will seem more interested in the way that they do things and seem more loyal to the organization,” Shiro added. “They’ll be less likely to suspect you of breaking rules if you seem like a loyal member.”

 

Lance sighed. He knew Shiro was probably right and knew what he was talking about, but the idea of attending Garrison events and acting like a “loyal member” of the organization made him feel uncomfortable. Not to mention the fact that it seemed extremely unappealing. Even before Keith, Lance hadn’t cared much for the politics involved with his job. To him, it was just something he did. He hunted vampires who were attacking innocent people and he was able to make money doing so. He never had any desire to go deeper than that.

 

“If you go, Allura and I will go with you and introduce you to people. We can go with the story that I convinced you to get off of your ass and take your job more seriously,” Shiro smiled.

 

“It’s believable,” Hunk added. Lance feigned to be hurt.

 

“I guess it’s probably a good idea,” Lance finally admitted. “Or at least not a bad one.”

 

“It might also be good to bring Keith with you. Er, if he feels comfortable enough doing so,” Shiro said, a bit uneasy about his own suggestion.

 

Lance’s eyes went wide as he raised an eyebrow. “Why would I want to bring Keith to the Garrison’s doorstep? Isn’t that what we _don’t_ want to do?”

 

“I always see quite a few hunters there with… um,” the older hunter stumbled, unsure of how to word what he wanted to say, “with vampires. It’s a status thing. Hunters get a lot of respect from the Garrison if they are walking around with an obedient vampire by their side. It shows that they have, I guess, control and influence. And I assume power, as well. It would also show that you are keeping a tight leash on the vampire, rather than letting them roam around on their own.” He paused. “Obviously, we don’t want to put Keith in a bad environment. But if he agrees to it, I’m sure it could help us give off the right impression. Because, especially if we want to do anything risky in the future with this situation, we are going to need reason for them to _not_ suspect you of breaking any rules.”

 

Lance was about to speak again when he heard his bathroom door open. Keith came out in sweatpants, a t-shirt and his towel still slung around his neck. He absently rubbed one of the ends of the towel against his wet hair as he made his way down the hall and into the kitchen.

 

“Shiro’s here!” Lance called out to inform the other. “He was late because he was out with his _girl-friend._ ” The boy grinned when he saw Shiro’s cheeks turn a bit pink. He always loved teasing the other hunter. It was also, honestly, very easy to make him blush.

 

Keith looked over and gave Shiro a smile and a small wave before continuing to the kitchen. He opened the fridge, pulled out one of his bottles of blood and then joined the rest of the group in the living room. Hunk scooted over and let Keith sit next to him on the couch.

 

A few weeks had passed since their outdoor concert excursion and the vampire was becoming more and more comfortable around them all. Despite originally insisting on drinking his ‘meals’ in private, he was now encouraged to treat it like everyone else treated drinks and snacks. So he casually sipped on it (he didn’t want to just chug the bottle in front of everyone) on the couch while they all talked.

 

“So while you were in the shower, we were talking about an idea of something we could maybe do to lower our chances of the Garrison being suspicious of us,” Lance brought up.

 

“What is it?” Keith asked curiously. When Shiro told him his idea, however, the vampire nearly choked on the blood he was drinking. “You want us to go to a gala for hunters!? Why would they even let me in?”

 

“I understand your concern, but I think it’s worth considering. Me and Lance will be with you and Allura said she would attend too,” Shiro tried to reassure him. “And they will let you in with Lance as your, er, escort..? I guess you could say. The Garrison will be less suspicious of you if they see you calm and behaving yourself at an event like that. Since she was promoted and has spent a lot of time working at the headquarters now, Allura has told me a lot about how the higher-ups and the administration operate. She thinks that this would be a smart move as long as we play it carefully.”

 

Lance could see how uneasy the idea made Keith feel and he had to admit that he felt the same way. But he also knew that Shiro was probably right -especially if the idea was originally Allura’s. The hunter knew that Allura was not only a skilled, high-ranking hunter, but also very intelligent and definitely promoted to headquarters for a reason. Still, he didn’t want to just jump into things immediately, so he reassured Keith by adding, “We can still think it over and everything. The actual event isn’t for a while so we can talk about it, okay?”

 

Keith nodded, but Lance noticed how he seemed to sink lower into the couch.

 

Soon after, they changed the subject and the energy in the room rose with it. Everyone joked around and laughed like usual. Shiro mentioned the idea of bringing Allura over next time they all got together and everyone agreed. All of the other hunters had met her before, but hadn’t yet gotten the chance to spend a lot of time with her. The night eventually came to an end and everyone reluctantly decided they should go home so they could get sleep before they worked the following night.

 

-

 

Hunk asked if he could stay the night due to his apartment’s heating not working right lately and the winter temperature dropping more and more each day. Lance happily encouraged him to stay. Keith went ahead and got the spare blankets out for Hunk as Lance decided to take a late night (now closer to early morning) shower.

 

“Thanks, Keith,” Hunk said as he took the blankets. “It’s been real freezing these past few days, hasn’t it?”

 

Keith shrugged, “I don’t get cold as easily. To be honest, the main reason that I know it’s been worse lately is just because of Lance’s complaints about it.”

 

Hunk laughed, “I don’t doubt that he’s been complaining. We used to be roommates so I can sympathize.” He paused before breaking the comfortable silence. “You don’t get cold?”

 

“Not as much,” the vampire said as he straightened up the living room. “It’s sort of weird since I used to get cold easily as a kid, but now the cold feels like the perfect temperature. When the temperature drops severely, I can still get cold though. I’m not impervious or anything. My tolerance for temperatures just shifted, I guess.”

 

“That’s pretty cool though,” the hunter smiled. “I mean the heat issues aren’t good, but that’s good that you kinda get a break in the winter.” Keith returned the smile.

 

After Lance came out of the shower, the three talked some more and lost track of time. It was only when they noticed a sliver of sunlight peaking through the curtains that they mutually agreed that they should get sleep. Hunk got comfortable out in the living room and Lance and Keith made their way to Lance’s bedroom. Keith had only closed his eyes for a few minutes when he heard Lance whispering in the dark room.

 

“Hey Keith,” he whispered. The vampire couldn’t help but to compare Lance to a kid at a sleepover and felt a smile tug at his lips. Out loud, however, he responded with a simple ‘what’. Then he rolled his eyes when Lance answered with, “I’m cold.”

 

“Then get another blanket.”

 

“I don’t think I have any more.”

 

“Then use a towel or something.”

 

“I’m not gonna use a towel.”

 

“Then don’t complain.” Keith’s smile returned when he heard Lance let out a huff of air in response. He knew that the hunter was probably pouting. After a few minutes of silence, Keith figured that the other had probably just decided to go back to sleep, but quickly learned that he was mistaken.

 

“It’s so cold.”

 

“Then turn up the heat.”

 

“I already have it kind of high. I’m not made of money.” A pause. “You could come over here and we could share our body heat.”

 

It was that moment that Keith was thankful for the fact that they were in a pitch-black room. He could feel his face heat up and it took him a minute to regain himself before he was able to come up with a retort.

 

“Vampires don’t have body heat.”

 

Lance groaned, “Come on, you don’t know that for a fact.”

 

“Actually, I do. Goodnight.”

 

“H-hey!”

 

Keith was glad that Lance couldn’t see just how flustered that idea made him.

 

-

 

A few days later, Lance asked a question out of the blue.

 

“Shiro wants to know if you’d be up for us hanging out at his place this time.”

 

Keith looked up from the magazine he was flipping through. “Yeah, that’s fine.”

 

“We can take a cab if you don’t want to go on the subway again.”

 

“I… I can do it. It’s fine,” he reassured him. Lance gave him a warm smile.

 

“All right, if you’re sure. I’ll tell him that we’re coming then!” the hunter said, turning his attention back towards his phone. He sent the text and then looked across the room at Keith. “Make sure to bundle up before we leave, okay? Even if you aren’t that cold, it’ll look weird if you are walking around in a t-shirt. It’s supposed to be below zero or some shit tonight.”

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Keith waved him off with a smile.

 

After getting dressed and ready to leave, Lance poured one of the small blood bottles into a reusable water bottle and packed it in his bag. Once Keith came out into the kitchen, the hunter looked him up and down a couple times before making up his mind and going to his room. He came back with a hat and pulled it on the vampire’s head. Keith let him have his way and only adjusted it slightly. To make Lance happy, he left the apartment in one of Lance’s coats, gloves, a hat and his red scarf.

 

They met up with Hunk and took the subway. Thankfully the crowd wasn’t as bad so Keith didn’t feel as anxious and before they knew it, they reached Shiro’s place. Lance knocked and when Shiro opened the door, the younger hunter grinned and held up a bottle of wine.

 

They made their way inside and began discarding their outerwear. Keith noticed the unfamiliar person in the apartment and found himself hesitant to take off his scarf. He knew this person was most likely the ‘Allura’ he had been hearing about and he knew that Allura already knew about him and his “situation”, but, despite that, he felt nervous and continued into the main room with his scarf still in place, hiding the metal band around his neck.

 

When the three of them walked into the main room, Allura looked up from her conversation with Pidge to send a beaming smile their way. “Hello! Wow, it’s been a while since I last saw you two! I’m very excited to get to spend more time talking with you.” Then her eyes widened as she noticed the boy standing slightly behind Lance. “Oh my, and you must be Keith. I’m glad we finally get to meet. Shiro, of course, talks about you quite often.”

 

She extended her hand out and Keith only paused for a brief moment before shaking it. He knew that this was someone important to Shiro and she seemed perfectly nice, but he would be lying if he said he wasn’t nervous. He thought that her knowing about him would make him less nervous, but now he was beginning to think that it was making him _more_ nervous. Would she be keeping at eye on him while he was here? _She’s a hunter and works at their headquarters,_ he reminded himself. He wondered how she, herself, felt about him. He wondered if she saw him as a burden on Shiro; a risk that wasn’t worth taking. Still though, he did his best to smile and act normally.

 

They all talked and told stories -quite a few of which were slightly embarrassing stories about Shiro- and Allura easily began to make a place for herself in the group. Then, after a few hours, Shiro decided to break out the wine. Pidge grabbed a soda from the refrigerator and plopped back down on the couch. As Shiro poured out drinks for everyone, Lance nudged Keith softly.

 

“I have your drink in my bag if you wanna grab it.”

 

“I…” Keith’s eyes briefly darted towards Allura in his moment of decision and then he fixed his gaze on the floor. “…I’m good.”

 

Lance looked at him with concern and kept his voice quiet. “You don’t have to worry about Allura. She knows and she’s okay with everything.”

 

“I know…” Keith said. “I’m just nervous…”

 

Lance smiled softly, “It’s okay. I can understand that. Just remember that she’s on our side, okay? She’s not gonna hurt you.” Keith could only nod. Lance waited a moment before adding, “If I grab your drink, will you have at least a little bit?”

 

“Okay,” Keith answered this time. Lance smiled as he got up. He grabbed the bottle from his bag and then grabbed his own drink from Shiro as well before returning to his seat in the main room. He handed the bottle to Keith.

 

The vampire waited a bit, but eventually pulled the top open and drank some of his meal. He felt his body relax a bit as he swallowed the blood. Its taste and, frankly, just its presence in his body were soothing. Then he noticed that Allura was watching him. He nervously closed the bottle back up and tried to avoid her eyes.

 

Out of his peripheral, he saw her touch Shiro’s arm to grab the hunter’s attention. She whispered something to him before speaking in her normal voice to address Keith. He hesitantly looked up at her. It didn’t help that the room became quiet when she spoke.

 

“Can you come with me for a bit?” she said, her smile gentle and nonthreatening. She quickly added, “I just want to talk with you, that’s all.”

 

“…Okay.”

 

Allura led Keith out of the main room and handed him his coat before grabbing her own. The sun had long set and the hunter rubbed her hands together as they left the building and braced the chilly winter air. The vampire’s mind was swirling with anxiety until Allura finally broke the silence.

 

“I’m sorry for making you nervous. I just felt that we needed to talk,” she began as she walked. “I can tell that you are being really cautious around me and I just want you to know that you don’t have to be. I’m not meeting you as a member of the Garrison, I’m meeting you because you are someone important to Shiro. And someone who I hope to be friends with too.”

 

Keith looked over at her with wide eyes, “But I’m…”

 

“I know,” she said kindly. “And I’ll admit that that would have been a deal breaker in the past, but Shiro’s helped me see past that. You know, he even mentioned you before he met you again. He said that you were his best friend who he missed so much. And then when he called me that night…” she paused, a sad smile forming as she recalled the memory. “He called me all choked up. He was saying that you were alive and how overjoyed he was that you were somehow still alive. And then he explained how he was afraid that he was going to lose you again as soon as he got you back. He was so scared for you, that guy.

 

“I told him the only option that I believed would work and I gave you the benefit of the doubt, but I admit I was still cautious. I was wary to believe that, after everything, you were still who you used to be, but according to Shiro, you are. I mean, he has told me that you’ve changed in some ways, but not into a monster of any sort. Just how anyone may change over the years and he said that it was probably isolation and trauma that made you more… what was the word he used? Skittish?”

 

Keith pouted, slightly offended at the word choice. Allura just laughed.

 

“I’m sure he didn’t mean it in a bad way. He just worries about you, that’s all.”

 

“I know,” Keith said, a small smile appearing on his face. Allura then surprised him by placing her hand on his shoulder.

 

“I want you to know that I trust you and I hope that you’ll be able to trust me as well,” she said. Keith smiled and nodded. “Do you want to head back to the apartment now? We walked quite a bit and it’s getting chilly.”

 

“Yeah, we can head back,” Keith smiled. However, it was when they were turning around that he noticed that someone was watching them. He met eyes with the stranger and his stomach dropped when the man grinned back at him. Allura followed his gaze and watched as the man crossed the street to join them. She eyed Keith curiously, trying to discern the relationship between the two.

 

“You know him.” Her words were phrased unlike a question.

 

“No,” Keith said honestly. “But he seems to know me somehow.” His thoughts went to Rolo and Nyma. _Could they have something to do with this_ , he wondered.

 

When the man approached, Keith could tell immediately that he was a vampire due to his scent, but his face wasn’t familiar at all. The stranger kept looking back and forth between Keith and the screen on an old flip phone. Then Keith tensed when the man spoke and the first words out of his mouth were, “So you’re Haggar’s boy?”

 

“I’m not Haggar’s anything,” he said through grit teeth.

 

“And who might you be?” Allura asked. Her words were light, but her voice was firm.

 

“Just a guy hoping to make a buck,” he grinned and then faced Keith. “Haggar heard about Sendak and claims that she knows you were involved. So she’s …impressed. Lucky you. Got a tip off the street that you were ‘Collared’ so I’m just here to get some info about the human holding your leash. The rumor was that it was some guy with a false arm, but it seems that they were mistaken.” The man winked at Allura.

 

“And what’s stopping me from just killing you right now?” she asked with a smile, her patience thin.

 

“You want to kill a defenseless man on the street when there are people around?” the stranger feigned shock. “Especially a man who’s just been desperately asking around as he searches for his lost son?”

 

“That’s the story you’re going with?” Allura looked unimpressed. Then before the vampire could say another word, she was grabbing him and shoving him back with her towards the closest alleyway. She pinned him against the chalky, concrete wall, causing him to drop the phone, and pushed a knife against his throat. “You must be new.”

 

Keith quickly picked up the phone and opened up the images. Sure enough, there were a few pictures of him -though they were old pictures by the looks of them. And then there were a couple just taken of him with Allura. He quickly clicked to the messages option and saw that the vampire had sent a message just a couple minutes before. The message merely said “found them” along with what Keith assumed must be the address of where they were. It was sent to an unknown number. The same number then popped up on the screen as the phone vibrated in his hands. The message just read “send the picture” and Keith smirked.

 

“He’s definitely new. Or just not very bright,” he said to Allura. Then he raised an eyebrow at the vampire still pinned by the hunter. “Did you honestly think they’d be your backup?” He figured that he had come to the correct assumption as the other vampire’s face paled in horror at his mistake. Keith just turned his attention back to the phone, deleting the pictures and then smashing the device for good measure.

 

“All good?” Allura asked.

 

“Yeah, go ahead,” Keith said.

 

Allura was a mere second away from slicing through the vampire’s throat when he maneuvered out of her grip and tried to push her aside. The hunter was prepared though and immediately had him in her grip once again, but this time the vampire was able to reach and bite into her arm –long fangs tearing through the fabric and piercing the dark skin underneath. Keith’s eyes widened in shock, but Allura barely wasted a moment before forcing the vampire off of her, slamming him against the wall and slicing through his throat.

 

The vampire’s body slumped onto the ground with a heavy thud and Allura hissed as she examined her arm. She must have noticed Keith’s concern because she quickly looked up with a smile. “I’m fine, it just stings a little. Better go get it washed up.”

 

Keith offered his scarf, but Allura instead pulled out a handkerchief from her coat pocket and used it to press down on the wound. She claimed that it wasn’t serious, but Keith could tell that it was bleeding a lot. He could smell it.

 

They picked up the pace a bit as they walked back to the apartment. When they walked through the door, smiles quickly turned to concern as all of the other hunters caught sight of the blood. They flooded around Allura, but she brushed them off, saying she was fine. Shiro dashed to the bathroom to grab supplies to clean and bandage the wound. Everyone was buzzing with questions of what happened, but Keith managed to sneak past them and took shelter in the –now empty- main room. His breathing was uneven and he noticed his hands shaking as he reached for his bottle of blood.

 

He was kicking himself for not drinking more of it earlier. Now that he had walked a solid block or more next to the smell of fresh blood, his hunger had worsened significantly. Plus, all of the anxiety that came along with finding out about Haggar making moves to get him back did not exactly help. He figured it was probably the combination of both things working against him and making his hand shake so much that he struggled to pull the top of the bottle. Then, making everything worse, when he finally pulled the bottle open he didn’t have a steady grip on it so it slipped from his hands and fell to the floor.

 

He watched in horror as the blood spilled from the bottle and out onto the carpet. Keith quickly picked it up but since the amount of blood in the bottle was already rather low due to the way his meals were rationed out, he peered in to see no more than a single sip left for him in the bottle. He downed the last sip in an instant and then reached to touch the carpet stain, desperate to try to steal at least a drop from the soaked material. His hands shook as his mind seemed to just echo, “ _fuck fuck fuck…”_

 

And that’s when Lance walked in.

 

-

 

Lance noticed Keith sneak out from the kitchen when everyone was asking Allura if she was okay and what had happened, but he didn’t immediately follow him. He figured that the vampire just wanted some space to calm down or something. Obviously there was some kind of attack, so _something_ happened. But when he eventually made his way to where he saw Keith flee to, he then wished that he had done so sooner.

 

Something was definitely wrong. The vampire was shaking and his eyes had an unfocused, faraway look. He was about to ask what was wrong when he noticed the blood stain in the carpet.

 

“Hey,” Lance said softly as he knelt down next to the other. “It’s okay. You’re okay.” He paused. “Did a lot of it spill?”

 

Keith slowly nodded, confirming Lance’s worry. The Garrison only provided a strict amount of blood each week. They claimed that it was all that a vampire needed and any more is simply pleasure, but Lance knew that wasn’t entirely true. Keith never complained about the amount of food he was given, but they had talked about it a few times in the past and Keith admitted that it was more of a bare minimum for vampires. He had explained that it was enough to get through a day, but once that twenty-four hour mark came along, he would start to get really hungry. And the hunter knew Keith well enough now to know that when he says it like that he means a painful hunger. Not as bad as the vampire has been through in the past when he’s been injured, but also not a casual ‘merely in the mood for a snack’ type of hunger either. Lance figured the Garrison must know this. Whether they are just trying to conserve blood or if they are doing it to keep the vampires submissive and dependent on them was the only question.

 

“Okay, it’s okay,” he tried to reassure the other. “We can head back and get some more at home. We’ll ration out the rest of the week and make it work, okay?”

 

“Allura’s bleeding…” Keith said, still not looking at anything in particular.

 

“She’s fine, don’t worry. She’s getting all bandaged up now and…” Lance’s words were interrupted when Keith finally turned towards him and looked at him with a pleading look in his eyes. Then it clicked. “Oh. You mean… _shit._ Shit, I didn’t even think about that. Does it hurt a lot?”

 

Keith hesitated for a second before answering, “…I can make it.”

 

Lance narrowed his eyes, unconvinced. “No, you need something sooner. We’ll be lucky if we get home in a half hour. It could be more like an hour or even longer. Come on, I can feed you.” Lance helped the other up and pulled him by the hand into the kitchen.

 

“Lance, no!” Keith protested, “I don’t want to just…! You don’t have to do that for me, I’ll be fine.”

 

“Nope!” he replied. “You need it. Just let me help you, okay?” When they walked into the kitchen, the casual conversation that they were all having as Shiro finished bandaging Allura up was brought to a halt.

 

“What’s wrong?” Allura asked, her smile falling as she looked between both Lance and Keith.

 

“Keith needs food,” he said, straight to the point. Before Keith could object, he continued. He spoke quickly and his words nearly ran together. “The smell of blood made his hunger worse and he accidently spilled the bottle we brought so I’m gonna just let him take some from me. Shiro, can we use your bathroom?”

 

Shiro stood dumbfounded for a moment before answering, “Oh. Um, yeah, go ahead.”

 

“Thanks.” Lance said before pulling Keith with him once again. As he walked down the hall, he distantly heard the group discussing whether or not they should just let him give Keith blood. It didn’t matter to him though because his mind was already made. He pulled the vampire into the bathroom and closed the door. He grabbed a towel and then sat down on the floor, leaning against the edge of the bathtub. He gestured for Keith to come sit next to him.

 

Stubborn, Keith shook his head. “I can wait. I don’t want to keep taking from you.”

 

“Come on, it’s okay. This is only like, what? The third time? And I’m always offering. Plus, I’ve got an endless supply so it’s perfectly fine!”

 

“You don’t have an endless supply…”

 

“You know what I mean,” Lance retorted with a grin. “My body makes blood and yours doesn’t. Why shouldn’t I donate every now and then?”

 

“You’re not donating, you’re letting me feed from you,” Keith deadpanned.

 

“I don’t know. It’s kind of like donating. Sort of? Like really direct and immediate donations.”

 

Keith snorted, some of the tension leaving his body. “I guess.” The two smiled at each other and then Keith spoke again as he sat down beside Lance. “Okay, I’ll take some, but I’m not gonna take much. And stop me if you get dizzy or something, okay?”

 

“Aye, aye,” Lance said playfully. He then pulled off his sweater and gestured to his arm. Keith, however, just bit his lip, still hesitating. The vampire’s hands were still trembling, but he looked almost afraid to bite him. Lance decided to help and see if he could make it a bit easier. He stood up and left the bathroom with a, “Hold on, I’ll be right back.”

 

He noticed the curious stares and a raised eyebrow from Pidge as he re-entered the kitchen, now only in an undershirt.

 

“Hey,” he smiled awkwardly. “Can someone pass me my knife from my bag there?” Hunk gave him a slightly concerned look, but reached over and handed him the knife nonetheless. “Thanks, bud!”

 

Then he returned to his spot on the floor of the bathroom. Leaning against the cool ceramic of the tub, he carefully dragged the knife across his upper arm to make a clean cut. Keith’s eyes were glued to the cut as it started bleeding down the hunter’s tan arm. It looked like he was still trying to hold himself back, but Lance didn’t miss the quiet whine that echoed from the vampire’s throat.

 

“It’s okay. Take what you need, okay?” Lance offered for encouragement and Keith finally gave in.

 

Keith leaned in and began lapping up the blood. His touch was gentle and cautious, his fangs only barely tracing against the other’s skin, as he seemed to make sure not to waste even a drop of blood that the cut offered. They both knew that the cut wouldn’t be enough though. Keith looked up at Lance in question, not even needing to use words –Lance understood. He gave the vampire a nod and gestured to his other arm. He figured it was better than taking a lot from one spot. And he wanted to avoid the neck area just in case they did end up going to the gala.

 

Keith scooted over to the hunter’s other side and held onto his arm as he carefully bit into the skin. Lance was expecting the sting so he only flinched a little bit this time. But like the times before, it was only that initial sting that was uncomfortable. He couldn’t help but to be in awe at how gentle the vampire was when he fed. Even during the times where he was in a much more desperate state, Keith always mustered the self-control to be gentle when he was feeding from him. Lance (obviously) had no experience being a hungry vampire, but he had the feeling that it wasn’t an easy thing to do. Without realizing it, he began softly rubbing Keith’s back with his free arm.

 

Keith didn’t take long to finish getting the blood he needed and then licking up the traces of blood around the bite, cleaning it up. He carefully let go and allowed for the hunter’s arm to rest at his side. Then he surprised Lance by gently wrapping his arms around his waist. The vampire leaned in and rested his head against Lance’s chest. His voice was soft when he spoke. “Thank you, Lance.”

 

The hunter smiled and resumed rubbing the other’s back. “Anytime.”

 

Due to the fact that Lance was sitting and Keith was leaning from a kneeling position, their current arrangement didn’t look graceful by any means. However, to Lance, it felt strangely intimate. He quickly tried to convince himself that it was merely a show of platonic affection and gratitude combined with the fact that Keith was probably tired from all that had occurred. But he still found himself slightly grateful that the vampire’s face was pressed against his chest with his eyes closed. Otherwise he might have noticed the pink dusting across his cheeks.

 

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay!  
> I hope you all enjoyed the chapter though. :)  
> I think this was the longest chapter for the story so far. 
> 
> As always, you can find me at [@kurisu_kuma](https://twitter.com/kurisu_kuma).


	12. The Sleepover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith takes care of Lance and everyone spends the night at Shiro's place.

-

 

“I can get it, don’t worry about it,” Lance tried to insist for the third time. Keith, however, was not hearing it.

 

“No. Now, sit,” he ordered. Lance pouted, but sat back down on the bathroom floor nonetheless. He watched as the vampire carefully followed the procedure of cleaning and bandaging the wounds. Keith had watched and even helped a few times when Lance had returned with small injuries from hunting, so he knew fairly well what he was doing. Once he finished bandaging the second arm up, he examined his work and then stood up and abruptly left the room while telling the hunter not to move. Lance raised an eyebrow when Keith came back with a glass of orange juice.

 

“It’s a bit early for breakfast,” he joked. Keith just rolled his eyes and handed him the glass.

 

“Drink.”

 

Lance sighed, but drank it.

 

“Not that fast- _fuck_!” Keith exclaimed when Lance tried to drink the whole glass in one go.

 

After Lance was back on his feet, the two rejoined the rest of the group out in the main room. They only discussed the events of the night briefly before deciding that it could wait and they should just try to enjoy the rest of the night. Nobody objected when the conversation changed from ‘vampire business’ to topics that could come from any group of 20-somethings who were just enjoying the night and each other’s company. As the night went on, Lance almost forgot that all of what happened only happened mere hours ago.

 

The conversation grew quieter over time, but not uncomfortable by any means. Allura and Shiro mentioned how they were considering moving in together, though they were still debating on whose place to move into or whether to just get a new place together. Pidge mentioned that their brother, Matt, was planning on visiting soon and they were excited to see him again. Lance began thinking about how he wanted to stop by and visit his family sometime soon too.

 

Shiro was telling a story about shenanigans he, Matt and Pidge had gotten up to the last time he visited when Lance felt weight fall onto his shoulder. He looked over to see Keith’s head leaning on him. The vampire’s breathing was slow and even –fast asleep. Allura was the first, after Lance, to notice. She smiled fondly at the sight. When Shiro noticed, his words trailed off and he stopped his story to instead smile and say, “He’s probably exhausted, isn’t he?”

 

“Yeah,” Lance spoke in a quieter voice than usual, trying not to wake the boy leaning against him. “I guess we should probably head back and call it a night.”

 

“You guys can stay over here if you want,” Shiro offered. “I have futons and spare sheets.”

 

“That’d be really great actually,” Lance replied. “You don’t mind?”

 

“Not at all. Honestly all of you can stay over if you want. It’ll be like old times,” Shiro smiled, and then turned to Allura to explain. “Back when we all just started working as hunters we’d constantly be staying at each other’s places. Hunk and Lance had a place and Pidge, Matt and I had one just a few blocks away, but we still always preferred just passing out at one of the two places after a long night of work.”

 

“I was still in training during this time though,” Pidge added. “So I’d usually be home first and Matt and I would be woken up by those three stumbling in the apartment at six in the morning like zombies.”

 

“Sounds like I missed out quite a lot of adventures with you guys,” Allura laughed.

 

The conversation continued as everyone got up and helped get the futons and couches set up. Despite Lance’s best efforts not to wake him, Keith had woken up when Lance got up from the couch. The vampire rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he carried a stack of pillows into the main room. Lance was helping unload the futons from the closet when he asked, “Hey Shiro, where’s the best place for Keith to sleep? I don’t know if you have stuff to cover the windows with or something, but the window in the room out there is pretty big.”

 

“Yeah, that might not be the best place,” Shiro agreed. “I mean, my bedroom window would be easier to cover, but I’m not even sure what to use to cover it. I just have regular curtains on it now.” He pondered for a moment, trying to figure out the best course of action. “My room has a walk-in closet, so that’s an option. I mostly just use it for more storage space, but if I just pull a few boxes out there should be plenty of floor space in it.”

 

“Okay. Yeah, that might have to do,” Lance said.

 

“I’ll go ask Keith and make sure it’s okay,” Shiro added.

 

It didn’t take long for everything to be set up. The couches and a futon were arranged in the main room and a second futon was set up in Shiro’s closet. Keith said he didn’t mind sleeping in there, though Shiro still looked like he felt bad that he couldn’t provide a better alternative. Still, they all said goodnight, turned out the lights and closed the curtains as the sun was already getting ready to rise.

 

After Lance, Hunk and Pidge got settled in and ready for bed, Hunk’s voice filled the silence.

 

“So… Keith, huh?” he said, making sure to keep his voice quiet.

 

“What about him?” Lance asked, confused.

 

“He totally likes you,” Hunk replied. Lance’s face flushed pink at the other’s words.

 

“ _What?_ Where the- what- why would you think he _likes_ me?” Lance stuttered in his shock and disbelief.

 

“Oh come on, don’t try to tell us that it’s never crossed your mind,” Pidge said. Lance could practically hear the teasing smirk in their voice.

 

“Well, it hasn’t,” Lance replied, stubbornly. “Keith is just a friend and there’s no way he thinks anything more of me.”

 

“He fell asleep on your shoulder,” Pidge added bluntly.

 

“He was tired,” Lance retorted.

 

“He’s always looking at you,” Hunk said.

 

“We’re _friends._ ”

 

“You guys share a bedroom.” Pidge.

 

“Don’t try to make it sound dirty. He just sleeps on a futon in there because of the sun.”

 

“A few days ago, he asked me if I could teach him how to cook,” Hunk brought up.

 

“So? The guy just wants to learn how to cook. What’s that have to do with me?”

 

“Are you dense?” Pidge teased.

 

“What? Come on, how does his desire to learn how to cook correlate to him having a crush on me?” Lance asked, propelled by sheer stubbornness at this point.

 

“Keith doesn’t eat,” Pidge deadpanned.

 

“So?” Lance repeated, despite already knowing his argument was lost.

 

“So why would he want to learn how to cook?” Hunk said. “Unless, he wanted to cook for someone else.”

 

“He probably just wants to help out,” Lance said, despite his friends’ arguments already making him reconsider his own. “He already insisted on taking on different cleaning tasks and whatnot. This is probably just something else he wants to help out with.”

 

“Whatever you say, Sanchez,” Pidge snorted.

 

“Maybe he’ll figure it out one day,” Hunk teased.

 

“You guys are assholes,” Lance retorted with a lopsided grin.

 

The room was quiet after that, a silent agreement made that it was time to get sleep. However, after a few minutes of peaceful silence, Lance was the one to speak up.

 

“So, wait. Do you guys really think he likes me?” his voice sounding more hopeful than he intended. His two friends groaned.

 

-

 

When everyone decided to turn in for the night, Shiro closed the door to his bedroom and turned out the light. Allura and Shiro were sharing Shiro’s queen-sized bed and Keith was fixing up his futon, the door to the walk-in closet still open. The vampire couldn’t stop the words from leaving his mouth as he spoke, “Do you think it’s safe?” Before they could ask, he clarified. “They could still be tracking me.”

 

He didn’t have to look to know that Shiro and Allura were probably giving each other concerned looks in the dark room.

 

“It’ll be fine,” Allura spoke first. “Shiro’s suggestion for you all to stay the night actually helps in regards to that as well. We are stronger as a group and if anyone manages to find the apartment, then they’ll have five trained hunters waiting for them.” When Keith didn’t say anything, Shiro decided to reassure him as well.

 

“I don’t know who these people are or why they are trying to track you down, but, from what Allura told me, they don’t seem very organized or well-trained. The one today seemed foolish, honestly,” Shiro explained, his voice soft. “I’m not saying that we should let our guard down, but I don’t think we need to worry too much. Plus, like Allura said, if any of them try to attack, they’ll be up against the five of us.”

 

“I guess you’re right,” Keith said. A small smile crept onto his face at the realization that he had such wonderful friends who cared about him and weren’t going to just give up on him. He was still worried, but the words of reassurance comforted him and let him relax. “Thank you, Shiro. Allura.”

 

“Of course,” the two both said, practically in unison. Shiro chuckled before adding, “Goodnight, Keith.”

 

“Goodnight.” The vampire then closed the door to the closet and lied down, wrapping the blanket around himself. The exhaustion that he had felt earlier on the couch began to creep back and he struggled to keep his eyes open. The night had been full of different emotions and situations that he had not anticipated, but he decided that in the end, everything kind of worked out.

 

With heavy eyelids, he peered around the closet. Clothes were hung up on a bar on one side of the closet and another wall was stacked with boxes. There was plenty of room on the floor and he didn’t feel squished between the contents of the closet, but it still felt a bit different than sleeping in a normal bedroom. He wasn’t complaining though. He honestly didn’t really mind. Keith wondered if he would have felt differently about this before. He wondered if he would have viewed this as being shunted away in a closet because he was a burden –and a monster. As though they put him in the tiny room merely because they didn’t want to deal with him or even have to see him.

 

But he knew better now and he could fight back against thoughts like those. He knew that they picked out this place because they wanted to make sure he was safe and able to sleep comfortably. They asked him first to make sure he was all right with it and talked with him to help him worry less about the vampires after him before going to sleep. He knew that they cared about him and, though it was a longer journey to accept that he deserved their love, he knew that it was there. And he loved them too. He loved them with all of his heart.

 

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Just a short, fun chapter before the Gala.
> 
> I'm actually over halfway into writing The Gala part 2 so I will hopefully be able to have that posted within this coming week. :)
> 
> Twitter: [@kurisu_kuma](https://twitter.com/kurisu_kuma).


	13. The Gala - Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day of the Gala arrives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a little [doodle for the fic](https://twitter.com/kurisu_kuma/status/831345156003622912). Specifically to go along with this chapter. Happy Valentine's day! :)

-

 

“That’s really what you are going with?” Keith asked.

 

“You bet! Shiro’s description of the dress code seemed to include this so why shouldn’t I have fun and dress up? Always gotta look sharp, right?” Lance grinned as he turned around again in the mirror.

 

“I guess,” the vampire wasn’t convinced. “As long as I don’t have to wear that too.”

 

“Aw, you don’t want to match?” Lance teased.

 

“I don’t want to stand out even more than I already will.”

 

“It’s honestly not that flashy. Shiro said it was formal so I’m sure plenty of other people will be wearing tuxedos and fancy gowns too. _But,_ since you told me you didn’t want anything too fancy, I ordered you a normal, black suit. Plain and simple!” he smiled, “Those were your exact words if I remember correctly.”

 

A smile tugged on Keith’s face, “Good. I don’t want to go out looking like I’m on my way to the senior prom.”

 

“People wear tuxes for other occasions, dammit,” Lance insisted, but he couldn’t keep the smile off of his face either. “Yours is in there too, by the way. You should try it on.”

 

Keith shrugged, but left to go do so nonetheless. As much as he loved to tease the hunter, he honestly thought that Lance looked nice in his tuxedo. Even if the blue cummerbund was a bit bold. Though the blue was nice in that it brought out the blue in his eyes. (Not that Keith was about to tell him that.) It looked nice on him though and it seemed that he thought Keith’s outfit choice through as well.

 

Looking in the mirror, he admired the color combination the hunter chose for him. It was simple like he had asked, but the black jacket and tie against the dark grey dress shirt added a subtle but nice touch that he found that he liked. When he walked back into Lance’s room, the hunter’s eyes widened in silence for a moment before his mouth seemed to catch up with the rest of him.

 

“I knew that would look good on you!” he grinned. “Man, I missed my true calling.”

 

-

 

That morning, Lance couldn’t sleep.

 

The Gala was mere hours away and, despite him and Keith doing well with trying to treat it as a fun occasion, he was nervous. He dreaded the thoughts of ‘what if something goes wrong’ as they continuously gnawed at him. He felt his throat close up when he thought about how the worst-case scenario wasn’t even that he’d lose his job –it was Keith losing his _life_. He took deep breaths, trying to will himself to calm down.

 

That was exactly what he said it was –just a worst-case scenario, he reminded himself. It was unlikely that they would even run into any trouble beyond awkward conversations and maybe some general tension due to the environment. He let out a long, shaky breath. He almost decided to just call the whole thing off right there.

 

Deciding that he wasn’t going to be able to sleep until he calmed down anyway, he quietly got out of bed to go grab a snack. When he cracked the door open, he heard Keith’s sheets rustle and turned around to see the vampire sitting up.

 

“Can’t sleep?” Keith said. His eyes were half-lidded and he already had a case of bed head.

 

“Yeah, I’m just restless, I guess,” he admitted. Keith seemed to ponder for a moment before gesturing for Lance to come over to where his futon was. Abandoning his snack, he closed the door and sat down on the floor next to Keith. “What is it?”

 

“Talk to me.”

 

“About what?” Lance asked, confused.

 

“Whatever you want,” Keith shrugged. “Shiro would do this for me back years ago. When I couldn’t stop worrying about something, he’d tell me to talk about something else –whatever I wanted- until I ended up focusing on that instead. I mean, granted, I was like fourteen and lived a very vampire-free life at the time, but I don’t know… I thought maybe you could try it.”

 

Lance smiled, touched by the notion. “Hmm. Well, since it’s still cold as fuck in here, I could tell you about my uncle’s beach house.”

 

Keith smiled and nodded for the other to begin his story.

 

“We went there last summer to visit. ‘We’ being my family. I am one of seven kids and that’s not even counting cousins and nieces and nephews,” Lance laughed a little. “So I took off work and we stayed at my uncle’s place for two weeks. He’s just a short walk away from the beach and his place is huge. Seriously, best beach vacation right there.”

 

“What did you do while you were there?” Keith asked.

 

“Well I went out surfing a lot. I love being out on the water,” he smiled, imagining the feeling. “And one of my little nieces, Marcia, insisted that I teach her -so she kept me busy.” He paused. “I also spent a lot of time just thinking, I guess. Like, wondering if I made the right choice –to be a hunter. ‘Cause, like, I mean, it’s become so normal to me that I just don’t think about it usually. But then when I was away from it, I realized just how prevalent it is in my life and also how risky it is.

 

“Don’t get me wrong,” he continued. “My mother reminds me all of the time how dangerous it is –she _hates_ that I chose to do this. But it had become so normal to me that I guess I just kinda forgot that it really is dangerous. Yeah, we’re fine most days, but what about the day that we’re not, you know?”

 

Keith was quiet, his eyes looking off to the side like he was trying to figure out just what to say. “Why did you decide to be a hunter? Just curious.”

 

Lance hummed, “I guess I just always wanted to do something important –be a hero, you know? I was one of those kids who always put ‘superhero’ down as my career of choice. And then when I got older and realized that I couldn’t exactly be a superhero, then I tried to find what, to me, seemed like the closest thing. Is that cheesy?” He laughed a little again.

 

“No,” Keith said, shaking his head. “I don’t think it’s cheesy.” Comfortable silence followed for a minute before the vampire spoke up again. “When I was younger, I wanted to be an astronaut.”

 

“An astronaut? That’s cool,” the hunter smiled. “Why an astronaut?”

 

“I think I just really wanted to go to space honestly. I had always loved learning about space and I found comfort in looking up at the stars. It was nice to have something stay constant when nothing else seemed to be,” Keith said, his tone nostalgic. Then he snorted and looked up at Lance with a teasing grin, “And you thought _you_ were cheesy.”

 

-

 

Keith was glad to see Lance laughing again.

 

“Thank you, by the way. For this. It kinda does help actually.” The words were soft and sat comfortably in the dark room.

 

“I’m glad,” the vampire responded after a moment. Then he carefully added, “Maybe after this you should go see them. Your family.”

 

Keith knew how much Lance loved his family. It was clear in just the way he talked about them and that warm smile that always accompanied the topic. He wasn’t sure how often Lance normally visited, but he got the impression that it had been a long time since the last time he did so. He wondered if that was his fault.

 

“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” the hunter seemed to perk up at the suggestion. “I was actually thinking about that not long ago.”

 

“You should then. I’ll be fine here for a day or two.” In response, Lance made a face that Keith wasn’t quite able to discern. He looked almost confused. The vampire tilted his head in question, “What?”

 

“Oh. I just…” Lance scratched the back of his neck with a nervous smile. “I just thought that maybe you would wanna come too. I mean, you don’t _have_ to,” he quickly added. “Just… if you wanted to, I guess. I’m sure they’d all like you.”

 

“Lance…” Keith started, a sympathetic look on his face. He appreciated the offer, but he didn’t think it was a good idea. Plus, he wanted Lance to just get to enjoy time with his family rather than have to worry about him there.

 

The hunter seemed to understand where the look stemmed from, but he wasn’t sharing the same feelings. “It’ll be okay, we’ll make it work. Honestly, we don’t even have to tell them. I’ll just introduce you as a friend. I mean, that’s how I’ve been referring to you to my mom when we talk on the phone. Granted, I try not to mention you too frequently because I’m still figuring out how to handle that situation, but this could work!”

 

Keith wasn’t exactly convinced, but he also didn’t want to deflate the other’s improved mood, “I still think it might be better if it was just you, but… maybe we can figure something out.”

 

Seemingly satisfied, Lance smiled. “You’ll love them. They’re all great. I mean, they are rambunctious bunch, but they’re good –really good people. I can’t believe Sofía is graduating from high school this year –it’s crazy to think about. She’s the youngest of my siblings. I remember holding her as a baby. And Marcia, she’s turning eleven soon. She’s my oldest brother, Gabriel, and his wife, Elle’s, daughter. They also live in the city, so they might be able to come by too.”

 

Keith just smiled as Lance talked. Simply seeing the other so happy helped ease his own nerves a bit about the upcoming event.

 

-

 

That evening, the hunter was scrambling.

 

“You ate, right?” Lance asked, currently attempting to accomplish as many tasks as he could at once. Staying up talking with Keith really helped him relax and it was really nice, however, staying up also ended up resulting in him sleeping through his alarm. Thus the scrambling.

 

“Yeah,” the vampire said from the other room. Lance mentally checked that off the list. Making sure Keith was not going to the Gala hungry was one of the bigger priorities.

 

“Okay, so we’re going to go to Shiro’s first, okay?” he explained as he fixed his hair in the bathroom mirror. “Then the four of us will take a cab down to the actual ballroom, or whatever this thing is at. It’s at the other side of the city from here, but Shiro’s place is closer. It’s a few blocks from Headquarters.”

 

The hunter hoped that Keith was still listening despite getting no response from him. Though even if he wasn’t, he couldn’t entirely blame him. He knew that saying the other was nervous would be an understatement. A moment later, the person in question poked his head into the bathroom.

 

“How’s this look?” Keith asked. When Lance turned around, he found himself staring for a beat too long. The vampire had pulled his black hair into a small ponytail. And, quite frankly, he looked really nice.

 

“Yeah,” Lance said awkwardly, before regaining his dignity and speaking more clearly. “Yeah, that looks good. Your tie, however, looks awful. Come here.”

 

Keith pouted, but stepped forward.

 

“I noticed this when we tried them on yesterday too, but I let it slide. Tonight, however, it will not fly,” Lance teased, as he reached over and undid Keith’s attempt at tying.

 

“I’m sorry it doesn’t look _perfect_ ,” Keith grumbled playfully. “Vampires don't exactly have black tie events.”

 

“That you know of,” Lance added with a sly grin. “Maybe Zarkon does, but you can only go if you have an ‘evil-ness’ rating of seventy-five or above. And you are stuck down at zero. No fancy dances for you.”

 

The vampire snorted, cracking a smile.

 

-

 

The two eventually got to Shiro’s apartment without any trouble and Allura opened the door with a raised eyebrow.

 

“Late,” she said bluntly, but without any real malice.

 

“We’re not even that late,” Lance complained. “It could have been much worse considering I slept through my alarm.”

 

“You slept through your alarm?” Shiro asked, poking his head around the corner. “That’s unusual for you.”

 

“Nerves.” Was all he could say.

 

Shiro and Allura exchanged looks and then Allura suddenly clapped her hands together. “Well, we are glad you two made it. Now it is time to enjoy the night!”

 

“We’ll all stick together and it’ll be a fun night,” Shiro added, his voice steady and reassuring.

 

“Yes,” Allura said. “It’ll be exciting. I’ve only ever gone to one of these with a date once before and I’ve never been on a double date.” A sly grin was pointed at Lance and it took him a brief moment for her words to digest.

 

“Double… _What?_ No! This isn’t, er, we’re not-” he stumbled uselessly as his face turned, what he imagined must have been, bright red. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Keith’s eyes widen, as he must have figured out the implication just a moment after. The vampire’s usual pale face was flushed pink and his eyebrows were furrowed in what was probably quite a mixture of emotions. A small part of Lance wished he could tell what that mix was made of.

 

Shiro and Allura just laughed at the sight. “Don’t get so riled up, I was just teasing,” Allura chuckled, though her eye contact with Lance lingered a second too long. He would be lying if he said that he didn’t, at least briefly, consider the possibility of her being a mind reader.

 

The ride to the ballroom was both excruciatingly long and fearfully short. The hunter wasn’t sure if getting to the place would end up easing his worry or intensifying it. He could only hope that it wasn’t the latter. Luckily, walking from the cab, up the outdoor stairs and into the building went smoothly. Seeing people dressed up and talking casually, he could almost convince himself that this was a normal party. Then, however, came check-in.

 

“Name and identification please,” the man asked, barely looking up from his clipboard. He was tall with dark, clean kept hair and, frankly, he looked a bit bored. Not that Lance could blame him. Shiro went first, followed by Allura. Then Lance stepped up next in line and hoped that it wasn’t obvious that he was nervous –and probably already sweating.

 

“Sanchez…?” the hunter said, unsure why he phrased his own name like a question. “Er, Lance Sanchez.” The man didn’t seem to care as he searched for his name on the list and then looked up to check the hunter’s ID card. The man just nodded and checked off his name. Then he looked up, waiting for the next person in line to do the same. Only, the next one in line was Keith.

 

Lance thought that it was obvious that he, himself, looked nervous, but Keith was in even worse shape. The vampire looked the exact definition of tense as he looked up at the man with wide eyes and no audible voice.

 

“He’s, um, he’s with me,” Lance quickly intervened, kicking himself for not thinking to check them in together in the same go.

 

The man simply raised an eyebrow. “Dates have to be registered beforehand if you…” he trailed off as his eyes landed on Keith –specifically the band around his neck. Lance watched as realization seemed to hit the man and he flipped back through the pages of his clipboard. “Right. Sorry, I didn’t notice that by your name.” He was solely addressing Lance now. “Do you need any equipment for it?”

 

_It._

 

Lance tried not to visibly cringe, “No, I’m good. Thank you.”

 

The man continued regardless, “We have containment rooms in Hall D if you don’t want to drag it around during your stay. You can choose to check it in there at any time during the night. We also have spare muzzles if you forgot to bring your own. We recommend it if there is any concern for misbehavior.”

 

“No… that won’t be necessary,” the hunter said, desperately wanting to end the conversation.

 

“If you are certain.” The man then called out to a woman who was also checking guests in and let her know that he was stepping aside. “If you’ll follow me, we’ll get you set up. It’ll only take a moment. It’s for security purposes.”

 

Lance hesitantly nodded and kept close to Keith as the two followed the man down the hall. Shiro and Allura tried to give reassuring smiles as they said that they would meet them inside. The room thankfully wasn’t very far from the place where they checked-in and the man was quick to pull out what he needed.

 

“We don’t require anything too fancy due to the band already providing the essentials, but we do, however, require these as a form of quicker and more efficient identification,” he explained as he held up what looked like two shackles, each with a small length of chain dangling off of it. “The beasts sometimes look a bit too human so we make sure that all of the guests can easily determine where the things are. The chains jingle a bit with movement, but that’s intentionally part of their design. If the sound becomes an irritant though, you always have the option of Hall D.”

 

Lance swallowed, “Right… Thanks.”

 

The man then turned to Keith, his voice suddenly stern. “Hands,” he ordered.

 

Keith kept his gaze glued to the floor, but obeyed. He brought his hands up, the inside of his wrists pointing upwards, and allowed the man to secure the shackles in place.

 

“You can come back out here before you leave and someone will help you remove them,” the man explained, his voice neutral again as he addressed the hunter. Lance just nodded again with a quiet (forced) ‘thank-you’.

 

The two were finally escorted back to the main entrance and allowed inside. Lance scanned the large, crowded ballroom for the two familiar faces who were waiting for them. Catching a glimpse of them by one of the dessert tables, he began walking across the floor.

 

His voice was quiet when he said, “I’m sorry…” And at first, Keith didn't reply. The only sound the other made was the soft jingle of chains. He turned to see the vampire fidgeting with them as they walked, a faraway look on his face as he stared at the gleaming metal between his fingers. It tugged at the hunter’s heart.

 

“It’s okay,” the vampire finally said. “It’s not _your_ fault.” Lance felt guilty regardless. The hunter was then surprised when Keith took a deep breath and let his hands fall to his sides. He kept the volume of his voice low, but his tone was stronger now –determined. “We said we were going to enjoy the night, right? It’s a party or whatever, right? This vampire security shit doesn’t change that, or it shouldn’t. We knew what we were getting into by coming here so… let’s just try to have a good time despite that, okay?”

 

Lance smiled a wide, genuine smile. “Okay, let’s do that.”

 

The two met up with Shiro and Allura shortly after. Shiro, who was enjoying trying all of the chocolate covered fruit, frowned when he saw Keith’s hands.

 

“I forgot about those…” he said, regretfully. “I’m sorry, Keith.”

 

The vampire responded with a small smile, “It’s not a big deal, I’m fine.”

 

“Would you like me to begin introducing you to people?” Allura asked gently.

 

“I guess we might as well,” Lance said as he accepted a glass of champagne from a server. He turned to Keith, “Are you okay with that? We can wait a bit more if you want.”

 

Keith shook his head, “Nah, let’s just rip the Band-Aid off.”

 

Lance knew that he shouldn’t have been surprised that Allura knew quite a lot of the people there. He wondered if it was merely Allura’s job that resulted in her interacting with many of these people or if a large portion of the organization was just more close-knit than he had thought. He supposed that many of the people who attended events like these were probably the same people who were very involved in the political side of their job. So, perhaps it was to be expected.

 

He had just finished introducing himself to one of the community awareness board leaders and was craving a quick break at the snack table when Allura pulled him towards another guest. She greeted the man politely and introduced Lance.

 

“Haxus, good evening,” she said with a smile. “You remember Takashi, yes? And this here is Lance. He is interested in learning more about what we do at the office. I thought I would introduce him to people here.” Then she turned to Lance. “Lance, this is Haxus Caldwell. He recently transferred from one of our neighbor branches to ours here in the city. He works as head of the recruitment office.”

 

“Nice to meet you,” Lance said, exchanging a quick handshake.

 

“Likewise,” Haxus said with a grin. “Always happy to meet friends of Allura. She’s a wonderful woman.”

 

“Lance enrolled in the training program at nineteen. He’s a very hard-worker and has quite the track record,” Allura continued.

 

“I see,” Haxus said, sounding impressed. “I have to say that I wish I could see more young men like that in my office. We’ve been having a slow year unfortunately.” He paused and then raised his eyebrow. “I can tell that you are devoted to your job though. That’s good. Attending Garrison events and, is that beast yours?”

 

Lance didn’t have to follow his gaze to know he was staring at Keith. He nodded without turning around, “Er, yeah.”

 

“That’s good,” Haxus’ smile widened. “It’s not an easy feat, I’m sure. I don’t have one myself –haven’t yet found one to my liking- but I’ve heard horror stories of hunters who weren’t up to the task. Being able to tame one and handle it so casually shows a lot of promise. You could probably get a promotion into the main offices one day if you choose to.”

 

“Thank you,” Lance said. His words were hollow and he couldn't bring himself, or even find the words, to say anything more.

 

“Anyway, I should continue making my rounds as well. It was nice to see you. Allura, Shiro. And nice to meet you, Lance.” He flashed a pleasant smile and went on his way.

 

Once the hunter was no longer within earshot, Lance turned to Keith and was surprised to see the vampire with narrowed eyes and an angry expression on his face.

 

“Whoa, hey, it’s okay,” Lance quickly spoke up, causing Shiro and Allura to turn towards them with concern. Lance kept his voice quiet. “I know he was saying those things and I didn’t like them either, but-”

 

“It’s not that,” Keith mumbled, he looked like he had to force himself to tear his glare away from the hunter that was now a good distance away from where they stood.

 

“Then, what’s wrong?” he asked carefully. If it wasn’t based on what the hunter had said, he wasn’t sure what could have Keith looking so angry.

 

“That guy you talked to just now…” Keith said, practically growling as he spoke. “He’s a vampire.”

 

-

 

“He’s a-” Lance quickly paused and lowered his voice down to a hushed whisper, “He’s a _vampire_!? Are you sure?”

 

Keith nodded. He could tell immediately. He recognized the scent as soon as they walked over and he was positive that it was coming from him. He watched as Lance looked up between Shiro and Allura helplessly, unsure of what to do with the information. The other two hunters seemed to be in the same position, their faces pale with shock. Shiro was the one to speak up first.

 

“How… how can you tell?” he asked.

 

“Scent,” Keith answered simply. “Humans and vampires have very different types of scents. It’s easy to tell the difference.”

 

Shiro simply hummed in thought. None of the three humans seemed to know how to proceed. Surely, their minds were filled with endless questions. How likely was it that a vampire could have slipped through the cracks and ended up in a high position within the Garrison without inside assistance? But then making that assumption only brings even more questions.

 

It was during their tense silence when a slightly tipsy couple approached the group and the three quickly replaced their grim, worried expressions with smiles. The couple exchanged pleasantries with Allura and introduced themselves to Shiro and Lance.

 

For Keith, the guests that they talked with seemed to be categorized into three groups. The first was his favorite –the category of guests that ignore his existence entirely. Thankfully this couple fell into that group. The second was the category that Haxus fell under –guests that specifically call attention to the fact that he is there and make comments about him. This, unsurprisingly, was his least favorite category. And then the last category fits between the two –guests that notice him and give him wary or distrusting stares, but never bring the conversation his way. This category was acceptable, he supposed.

 

As the hunters talked with the friendly couple, the vampire’s thoughts repeatedly went back to Haxus. Not only did the whole idea of this vampire sneaking into the organization -undoubtedly to cause trouble- piss him off, but he made a point to say those things about Lance ‘taming’ him while knowing full well that they both identified each other as vampires. He knew he was trying to provoke him and, unfortunately, Keith was too stubborn and pissed off to just let it go. He slipped out of the group’s view and walked down towards where Haxus had gone.

 

He noticed the looks he got as he walked. He had been getting stares from guests all night, but him being unattended by the others is what probably was now increasing them in number. None of them seemed to care enough to stop him though –most turning around after sending a brief, suspicious glance his way. A voice in the back of his head told him to be smart and turn back, but he ignored his voice of reason in favor of getting some answers. To his luck, Haxus was alone grabbing a drink when he reached him.

 

“And where is your master?” Haxus said smugly, taking a sip from a glass of champagne.

 

“Cut the shit,” Keith spit out. “What are you doing here?”

 

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

 

“The fuck you don’t,” the vampire’s patience was thin. “Why are you posing as a hunter? What are you trying to do?”

 

Haxus took another sip of his drink as though he had all of the time in the world. “The possibilities are endless with power like Zarkon’s.”

 

The vague answer, however, only served make Keith even more pissed. “I could expose you right here.”

 

“And yet you chose to approach me privately.” Haxus swirled the sparkling liquid in his glass. “Something you don’t want your master to know? Or perhaps, despite your predicament, your loyalties still lie where they should.”

 

Keith grit his teeth, “He’s not my master…” Deep down he knew that that detail wasn’t what was important, but the words left his mouth before he could stop them.

 

“Who are you trying to fool?” a ghost of a laugh in the other vampire’s words. “I think you need to learn some self-awareness.”

 

Keith grabbed the collar of the man’s shirt, but the surrounding hunters didn’t waste a second before bringing their attention their way. He felt all of their eyes digging into him with malice and noticed the gleam of metal blades in his peripheral vision. He reluctantly let go of his grip on the other vampire.

 

Before Keith could say anything else, he heard Lance calling his name as he rushed over to him. He cursed himself for making a scene when the whole reason they came to this damn thing was for Lance to make a good impression. _Looks like I fucked that up,_ he thought bitterly.

 

“Keith, are you ok-” the hunter started to say as he approached, but was quickly interrupted by Haxus.

 

“You need to keep a better eye on your pet. It tried to attack me,” he said, the false pleasantness fading from his voice. “You should make sure to keep it on a shorter leash next time.”

 

Lance hesitated, but eventually gave in and made a quick apology. “I’m sorry, I’ll make sure to do that. Sorry for the trouble.” Then not a moment later, he pulled Keith by the arm away from the scene and out of the ballroom. Once they were far enough away from the rest of the crowd, in an empty hallway somewhere in the large building, he finally spoke again. “What was all of that back there!? I thought we were going to figure this out carefully!”

 

“He pissed me off…” was all Keith could say. It didn’t help that Lance’s apology to Haxus hurt a bit too. Logically, he knew why he acted that way, but he also had hoped that maybe Lance would have stood up for him instead. The other vampire’s words echoed in his thoughts – _who are you trying to fool?_

 

His thoughts must have reflected in his expression somehow because Lance’s shoulders fell and his face softened. “Hey,” he spoke gently, “it’s okay. It’s not a huge deal. I’m not mad at you or anything. And I don’t blame you for getting mad. Honestly, I was getting real mad when he was talking to us earlier.” When Keith didn’t respond, Lance spoke up again. “What did he say to you?”

 

“It doesn’t matter.”

 

“It does matter. If it upset you, then it matters.”

 

Keith deflated, his eyes moving downwards to glare at the marble floor. “He kept calling you my ‘master’ and it just got to me…” He brought his eyes back up and looked at Lance’s sympathetic expression. He wasn’t expecting it when the hunter embraced him in a warm hug.

 

Unfortunately for Keith, the tender notion acted as a breaking point, pushing aside the walls that were keeping his unsaid thoughts from spilling out. “I hate it –all of this- I hate it! I know that it could be worse and I keep telling myself that, but, really, _fuck that_ because it doesn’t make this any less awful. And I know you guys are trying to make it easier for me and it helps, it does, but I still just hate this and I hate that this is the best option that I got left with in my god-forsaken shitty undead life. I hate this because… I hate this because even if the whole vampire thing wasn’t bad enough, I now feel even more out of line for feeling anything towards you ‘cause I know that you’d never- …‘cause why would you ever-”

 

Lance squeezed Keith closer as the vampire broke down. Tears rolled down Keith’s chin and onto Lance’s jacket.

 

“Hey,” he started, his voice barely above a whisper. “It’s okay. It’s okay to hate this. We’re going to do something to get out of this whole situation, right? Because you don’t deserve to feel this way and I wish that you didn’t have to deal with this… But just because we were backed into this doesn’t mean that it means anything. By that I mean, I will never for a second see you the way that they think I do –the way that they expect me to. Never for a fucking second.” He gently pulled back from the hug and brought his hands to cup Keith’s tearstained face. “Please don’t ever think that I see you as anything less than my friend, as part of my chosen family and as… er, uh, _dammit_ what I’m _trying_ to say is that I like you too.”

 

The vampire’s eyes widened and somehow managed to fill with even more tears. “You… like me?”

 

Lance failed to hide the blush on his cheeks and the tips of his ears. “Er, yeah. I mean, this was definitely _not_ how I was planning on telling you, but yeah, I… yeah, I like you a lot…”

 

Keith bit his lip. His thoughts were spinning too fast and before he knew it he asked, “Can I kiss you?”

 

“You don’t even have to ask,” Lance smiled, laughing a little. The soft, gentle laugh that Keith loved most.

 

Then suddenly their lips touched and Keith’s nagging thoughts became quiet for the first time in a long time. All that was on his mind was his shock and joy over the fact that he was _kissing_ Lance.

 

Everything about Lance was warm -his voice, his touch, his laugh, his smile. And his lips were no exception. But it wasn’t the kind of warm that burned. Rather, Keith felt that it was the kind of warm that made him feel safe; made him feel human again. It was the kind of warm that made him feel like happiness was something that was within reach.

 

-

 

To Lance, Keith’s touch was cold and his kiss was no different.

 

But it wasn’t the kind of cold that was unwelcome. It wasn’t ice pressing against his lips and leaving him frozen. Rather, it was like a cool breeze on a hot day or the dive into the pool on the first day of summer. It was a type of cold that made him feel relaxed; made him feel _alive_. It was a type of cold that just felt right to him –like it was a part of him that he had been missing and finally got back.

 

Lance wasn’t thinking about Haxus and all that that mystery entailed or what their next steps were. He wasn’t thinking about where they were or about the room full of hunters that could walk down the empty hall at any moment. In that moment, all he could think about was Keith. Keith, who had come into his life so suddenly and changed it more than he ever could have imagined when he first walked into that bloodstained alleyway. Keith, who, he felt, deserved the world and who he wanted to share his world with. All he could think about was the pure joy that came along with the fact that he was actually _kissing_ Keith.

Suddenly, the rest of the night didn’t even matter. All that mattered to them was that they had each other. Things were far from perfect, but in that moment, they were happy.

 

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, scratch what I said a couple chapters ago. THIS is now the longest chapter haha. I hope you all enjoyed it! :)
> 
>  
> 
> Twitter: [@kurisu_kuma](https://twitter.com/kurisu_kuma).


	14. Bump in the Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Gala ends, Lance and Keith don't know how to talk about their relationship without being awkward and flustered, and a serious threat appears.

-

 

The rest of the Gala passed without anything noteworthy happening. Or at least it seemed that way to Lance. The hunter couldn’t get his mind off of what had happened in that empty hallway and having to act like nothing had happened only made him more eager to leave. Which was why he was practically bouncing on his toes when Allura finally decided they could retire for the night.

 

They first got Keith out of those unnecessary shackles and then it didn’t take too long for them to get a cab. Shiro and Allura waited for the next one since their ride home would only take half the time Lance and Keith’s would. They all said their good-byes and Lance let out a long breath as soon as the door to the taxi closed shut. It had been a long night.

 

“You all right?” Keith asked, eyeing the other. Lance couldn’t keep the smile off of his face as he nodded.

 

“I just can’t wait to get home,” he said. This time Keith smiled too.

 

“You and me both.”

 

-

 

When the pair arrived back home, both of them sighed in relief upon walking through the doorway. They felt sleep calling to them, but there was also something else on their minds. After they got changed into pajamas, Lance was the one to step up and speak the question they both wanted to ask.

 

“So, are we like…” he started, awkwardly. He quickly trailed off, just looking up at the vampire in the hopes that he would know what he was trying to ask.

 

He did.

 

Keith bit his lip and began fiddling with the edge of his T-shirt, avoiding eye contact. “I, uh, do you… want to be? You know, dating or whatever. _Oh God_ , that is what you are asking, right?”

 

Lance laughed, “Yeah, that’s what I was asking. So you want to? ‘Cause I want to, I just want to make sure that you want to, too.”

 

“I want to,” Keith said, still nervous, but finally making eye contact again.

 

The hunter’s smile seemed to stretch from ear to ear. “Well, I guess we are doing this then!”

 

Keith smiled wider than Lance had ever seen him smile before.

 

Still exhausted, the two didn’t need any kind of discussion to decide that it was time for them to get some sleep. Lance was about to turn off the lights when he paused.

 

“Hey, do you, uh, want to maybe sleep with me in my bed instead?” He quickly clarified his words as soon as he saw the incredulous look on the other’s face. “ _Obviously_ I’m not implying anything like that! I just meant like, you know, sleep _on_ my bed -instead of sleeping on that old futon. There’s room.”

 

Keith eyed the bed and seemed to consider the offer. “Okay,” he finally decided, a soft tint to his cheeks. “But if you try anything weird, I _will_ kick you off the bed.”

 

“It’s my bed though!” Lance argued with a lopsided grin. “Not like I would do anything the first night anyway. Who do you take me for? Obviously, I wait until the second night.”

 

Keith rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t stop smiling either.

 

After they all got settled, Lance wondered if he would even be able to sleep now. He had a long night and even with the lights off and the bed being warm and cozy (even warmer and cozier than usual), he suddenly felt more awake. Keith was right there beside him and it wasn’t until he had been staring at his friend’s (boyfriend’s?) back for a few minutes that it finally began to truly hit him that this was _real_. He wasn’t imagining Keith spilling out his feelings or kissing him or their shoulders pressing against each other during the ride home or the fact that they decided to actually date or that he was _right there beside him sleeping in his bed_. It hit him that all of that was real, so now he felt that he was too happy to sleep. But as it happens, exhaustion eventually sets in. The hunter soon fell asleep with his smile still in place.

 

Only to wake up a few hours later, shivering. Turns out, Keith is a blanket thief.

-

 

The next day, it took all of Lance’s willpower not to call and tell everyone about him and Keith. He was excited and wanted his friends to know, but he talked about it with Keith and they came to the agreement that it would be better to tell them in person the next time they were all able to hang out. So, of course, he quickly asked everyone if they could hang out the following night.

 

The hunter went out that night on patrol and returned just a little before sunrise. Though he couldn’t say that he wasn’t tired, he returned home with happy butterflies. The two stayed up for a little while talking like usual and then retired to bed –Keith joining Lance like he had the previous morning.

 

“You were a blanket-stealing menace last night,” Lance teased. “I swear I woke up, like, three times just to pull them back to my side.”

 

Keith shrugged, failing to hide his smile. “I just like sleeping with blankets, I guess.”

 

“You aren’t even cold though. Meanwhile, I’m freezing!”

 

“They’re comfortable.”

 

“A menace,” Lance pouted.

 

“If it bothers you that much,” Keith started, his eyes looking away as he attempted to make his words sound casual, “Then I guess you’ll just have to sleep closer to my side, or something.”

 

Lance’s pout was replaced by a devious smile as soon as the vampire’s words were out. “You… want to cuddle? You actually want to cuddle – _oh my god_!” He couldn’t stop himself from bursting out laughing. “You thought you were being so smooth, but I see through that act! Oh my- that was the cutest way to ask if we could cuddle. Seriously, that was such a ‘Keith’ way of asking.”

 

Keith was narrowing his eyes at the other, but his obvious blush was ruining any attempts of seeming angry rather than embarrassed. “What does that even mean!? _Fuck_ , forget I said anything. Goodnight.” He pulled the blanket over himself and turned around, facing the other way.

 

“Aw, come on! Don’t be like that. I thought it was cute!” Lance cooed, scooting himself closer to the other. When Keith just ignored him, he slowly nuzzled himself a bit closer and then draped his arm over the other boy’s waist. “This okay?”

 

Keith was quiet and Lance almost began to worry for a brief moment until the vampire’s shoulders fell into a more relaxed posture. A cold hand reached to gently touch his own hand that was draped over the boy beside him. “Yeah, this is… nice.” And then a beat later, he added, “Thank you.”

 

Lance smiled, “Goodnight.”

 

-

 

A noise woke Keith up a few hours later.

 

He could still feel Lance leaning against him though, and the boy’s arm still hadn’t moved from its spot on his waist. He couldn’t help but to smile at that. (He felt like he was doing so much smiling lately.) He carefully maneuvered to peek at the digital clock sitting on Lance’s night side table. It was only a little past eleven in the morning. He was about to go back to sleep when he heard it again –a thud that sounded like it was coming from out in the living room. He furrowed his brow, not knowing what to make of it. A break-in? A vampire? Just a package delivery? He couldn’t tell. Though he felt a bit guilty for it, he softly nudged Lance.

 

“Hey, wake up,” he said softly. Lance mumbled a few incoherent words, before blinking his eyes awake –or, slightly awake at least.

 

“What’s up?” he said, still groggy.

 

“I heard a noise. I think someone might be in the apartment… maybe.”

 

Lance furrowed his brow this time, concerned. “Okay. I guess we can go check it out real quick.” He rolled over to the other side of the bed and reached under the mattress, pulling out a knife. He had only just sat up, however, when the door to their bedroom slammed open.

 

Four figures burst into the room and everything seemed to happen so quickly. Keith pushed the blankets aside and moved in front of Lance. The figures didn’t seem to be holding any weapons so Keith’s first thought was that they were vampires, but then it hit him that they didn't smell like vampires –they smelled undeniably human. Before he could make another move though, two of them lunged forward and grabbed him. They pulled him off the bed and threw him to the ground. His face was pressed against the floor as the other figure pulled his arms around to his back, gripping his wrists together as though he were being handcuffed.

 

He could hear Lance shouting his name, but it took him a minute to move his head enough to see him. The remaining two figures were keeping the hunter restrained as well –though while still standing up. He could hear his heart pounding in his chest, but he wasn’t going to just let things happen. Keith continued to thrash around in their grip, trying to shake them off even just for a moment. He saw his opening when the figure holding his head had to move one of his hands to assist the other figure holding him down. In an instant, he turned his head enough that –with some discomfort- he was able to reach the figure’s arm with his mouth. He clamped his teeth into the attacker’s arm as hard as he could manage, feeling the skin break beneath his fangs and tasting the few drops of blood that made their way past the figure’s sleeve and into his mouth.

 

The figure –a man with a deep, raspy voice- cursed and violently tugged his arm away. Keith only had a mere second to think before he saw a white cloth, tied into some kind of gag, being forced in front of his face and shoved into his mouth. His breathing was becoming faster and faster as he felt the gag being tied tightly around the back of his head.

 

Lance was shouting again and Keith looked up in time to see him maneuver his hand free from one of the figures and slash his knife at them –slicing a cut into their cheek. But before he could attack again, a voice sounded from -what Keith assumed was- the doorway and froze him in his tracks.

 

“Sanchez. Lower your weapon.” The voice was calm, if not a little annoyed. When the fifth figure stepped further into the room, Keith got a better look. She was a tall woman with long blonde hair tied into a bun. The vampire looked back and forth between her and Lance. The latter had been stunned into silence. He looked like he recognized her. A bad feeling settled in Keith’s chest.

 

“I come here on Garrison business,” she spoke, her tone cold. “And before you try to make up any false explanations, let me save you the trouble by reassuring you that I know what you have been doing.” Keith watched the color drain from Lance’s face. The woman, however, was unfazed and just continued speaking -her icy eyes going from Lance over to him. “To think that we wouldn’t examine all of the security footage from our Gala event was a foolish mistake. It doesn’t matter whether the venue is ours or not, the Garrison does not take security lightly. Though I must admit that I was surprised to see something like this. Repulsive, but interesting, I suppose.”

 

“What you saw was-” Lance started, desperately.

 

“Like I said,” the woman cut him off immediately, “I will save you the trouble of making up any lies.” She pulled a small remote out of her pocket, her expression uninterested. Keith could see a tag dangling from the small device with ‘Sanchez’ written in large letters across it. “Lying won’t help you, but it is in your interest to cooperate. Leave your phone and all weapons here. We will be taking you to Headquarters.”

 

Then she glanced over at Keith again and the vampire felt a shiver go down his spine. He watched as the woman returned her attention to the remote in her hands and flipped some kind of a switch. Immediately, he heard a click from the band around his neck and, not a moment later, he felt a strong shock shake his whole body. He thinks that he must have screamed because Lance was looking at him like his heart was broken and he was shouting again –though Keith couldn’t understand the words. The sounds of the room were muffled and distant. Then his vision swirled until there was nothing but black and quiet.

 

-

 

Keith came to slowly. His body felt heavy and sore and he felt a raging headache pounding in his head. He was also afraid to open his eyes. After all, he couldn’t tell where he was and he didn’t know what had happened. The ground was cold (maybe metal, he thought) and his body was curled up in an uncomfortable position. It was quiet except for a low hum of machinery and an occasional rustling. It was the smell, however, that made him finally open his eyes. He smelled dust, waste, blood, and vampires.

 

He opened his eyes slowly, expecting to have to adjust to the light, but he was met with a dark room with only dim lighting. The first thing he noticed was that he was in a cage. His uncomfortable sleeping position wasn’t because he had fallen asleep that way, but rather, because there wasn’t enough room to spread out more comfortably. He grimaced and pushed himself up into a seated position. The vampire gripped the bars and pushed himself against them as much as he could, trying to see around the room. The place was lined with cages in three columns, with wide paths between them, and then there was a large metal double-door at one end of the room. The ceiling was covered with exposed pipes and the limited lighting was coming from a few small lights along the walls.

 

Then there were the vampires. A man who looked to be in his late thirties was in the column across from him, sitting almost directly across from him. Then there was another man, probably a bit younger, a couple cages down from the first vampire and a woman around four cages down from his own cage. It was hard to see the woman, due to his position, but she looked to be asleep. The man farther from him was curled up, hugging his knees and the man closest to him was leaned casually (as casual as one could manage in the small space) eyeing Keith with a cruel smirk.

 

Not wanting to get involved, Keith scooted himself backwards to lean against the back of the cage –his legs unable to stretch out very much- and closed his eyes with a sigh. His chest was tight and he knew that if he thought too much about what had happened back at the apartment that he would either panic, tear up or both, so he forced himself to stay focused merely on what he could feel. The metal was cold against his feet and it reminded him that he was still in his pajamas -a black T-shirt and Lance’s old pair of sweatpants from his high school with the name of the school printed down the side. It was soft and still smelled like Lance. Thinking of Lance made his heart ache though. He hoped that wherever he was right now, that he was all right.

 

“My, oh my, oh my,” a voice echoed in the quiet room. Keith assumed it was from the vampire across from him. “Can’t believe I’m seeing a ‘Collar’ in the flesh. Is this where they all go when their humans get tired of them?”

 

Keith swallowed his growl. He wasn’t going to give the man the satisfaction of getting to him.

 

“Nothing to say, huh?” the vampire said, unsatisfied with Keith’s lack of response. “Or maybe you just think I’m filth or something. Well, I hate to break it to you, but if I’m filth, then what does that make you? At least I lived my own life instead of living as some human’s fuck toy.”

 

“Oh, will you just cut it out,” said the woman in the back. Keith wondered if this guy woke her up or if she had been awake the whole time. “The ‘Collar’ obviously doesn’t want to talk to you, so just spare us having to listen to your damn voice, will you?”

 

“I’m just trying to get to know the guy,” the man smirked. “I want him to feel welcome, you know?” The woman just snorted. The man either didn’t notice or didn’t care. “Welcome to our lovely home –the Trash Room. I call it that because we are garbage just waiting to be taken out. Clever, isn’t it?”

 

Keith sighed, hoping maybe budging just a little will satisfy the guy, “Not really.”

 

“Ha! It speaks!” he said, his cruel eyes lighting up with glee.

 

Keith knew that he probably shouldn’t have been thankful that the doors opened, but at least it made the man stop talking. However, by the way that the other man, who had been quiet until now, began visibly panicking, he figured it was unlikely that those doors opening ever meant anything good. But once he smelled the blood and the anxious vampire (likely also catching the scent) let out a shaky breath of relief, he guessed that maybe there was at least one good thing it could mean.

 

Two figures walked into the room -one leading and the other pushing a cart behind them. When they got closer, he could see that there were four bowls on the cart. The figures approached the first cage on their way down the space between the rows of cages –it belonged to the vampire who was still working on calming himself down.

 

“Arms up,” the first figure spoke while the second one picked up one of the bowls. The vampire immediately obeyed, practically throwing his trembling arms in the air. With a quiet ‘beep’, the figure swiped their card over a scanner near the bottom of the cage and then pulled open a small opening. The opening wasn’t much bigger than a slot for mail, but it was enough space for the bowl to be pushed through. Then it was quickly closed back up and the vampire put their hands down and reached for the bowl.

 

The process was repeated for the other two vampires, though they seemed less nervous. When the two hunters made their way to Keith, they followed the same routine.

 

“You saw how it’s done. Arms up, you get fed,” one of them said, their tone short. Keith reluctantly did as he was told. He watched as the bowl was slid through the small opening. After they closed it back up, they left without another word.

 

He stared at the bowl, contemplating. It was a flimsy styrofoam bowl filled about an inch from the rim. It was hard to tell, but he felt like it was less than his usual rations. But food was food. He lifted the bowl carefully, not wanting to spill anything, and drank up all that he could get from it. He used his finger to snatch up the remaining drops to eat.

 

As glad as he was that the nosy vampire had gotten off of his case (at least for the time being), the silence was unpleasant as well. There was nothing to distract him from thinking about what his fate was -and nothing to distract him from thinking about Lance.

 

-

 

The container was tossed onto the metal table without care. Lance only raised an eyebrow, his expression serious and, quite frankly, a bit annoyed. “You _still_ aren’t going to tell me anything? Just going to throw some shitty take-out in here and leave again?”

 

The other hunter answered by leaving and re-locking the door behind them. Lance sighed and reluctantly poked at the food he was given. It was a messy burger and some fries. He also still had the water bottle they had given him hours earlier. Or at least he assumed it was hours ago –there weren’t any clocks in the tiny, empty room.

 

The room made him feel like he was being held in a police station for some crime. They reminded him of an interrogation room from any procedural cop drama he’d half-watch on television. It was empty except for the metal table placed in the center of the room with a single chair on either side. There were no windows either -just bad fluorescent lighting and a locked door. He supposed it could very well be an interrogation room though, considering that in the Garrison’s eyes he _had_ committed a crime.

 

At least they had given him the chance to change out of his pajamas and were giving him food and water. He doubted Keith was being treated half as well as even just that. Thinking about Keith, however, made his chest ache and tears sting his eyes. He didn’t know anything about where Keith was or what they were doing to him. He didn’t even know if he was even still alive…

 

He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to force that thought out of his head. _He’s okay; he’s going to be okay,_ he repeated like a mantra, not for the first time in the past few hours. He let out a deep breath.

 

He wasn’t hungry, but he didn’t know when the next time they would bring him food would be, so he ate.

 

He finished his food.

 

Then he waited.

 

Then he paced around the room –also not for the first time.

 

And then waited again.

 

He tapped his finger against the table anxiously until he couldn’t stop thinking about how this was his fault. He felt responsible and his thoughts swirled in circles, only making him feel worse and worse. _I should have known better; I was being too careless; I let myself drop my guard and my mistake very well might have cost Keith his life. I might have lost Keith and it’s all my fault._

 

And then it was too much and he laid his head down on the table and let the tears roll off of his cheeks.

 

He wasn’t sure when he had fallen asleep, but the sound of the door opening again woke him up right up. His eyes widened when this time, rather than a random employee at the Garrison, it was the chief that entered the room.

 

The chief –Holloway- closed the door behind her and then sat down across from Lance, placing a small stack of folders on the table. He looked up at her expectantly, but she ignored his glance and instead picked up one of the folders and opened it.

 

“Sanchez. First name, Lance. Born in ’95. Joined the Garrison’s training program at nineteen. Good track record, no incidents or misconduct,” she spoke, her eyes never once glancing up at the hunter. She flipped the page over and paused for a second, “And then you apply for ownership of a vampire -male, early twenties, injured, missing limb, malnourished.

 

“I wonder how early you broke the law. Did you fail to kill an injured vampire and choose, instead, to save its life? Or perhaps you were a traitor before it was injured. Frankly, I don’t care a whole lot about the ‘when’ though. Facts are facts and the fact is that you not only spared a vampire, not only befriended a vampire, not only abused our system to save a vampire -all of which are crimes, I might add- but you have also made the choice to be romantically involved with a vampire. Which is like spitting in the face of our organization. Was that your intention, Sanchez? To mock the organization that you are a part of?”

 

“No, ma’am,” he answered nervously.

 

Then for the first time, she lifted her gaze from the folder and made eye contact. “I should hope not.”

 

Lance fidgeted anxiously under the table. He was treading very dangerous grounds and anything he said, or even didn’t say, could be a risk.

 

Then Holloway dropped the folder onto the table, laying it flat. “Though the specifics of the situation are very rare and not one that we’ve ever encountered here at our branch at least, the procedure of punishments would, under normal circumstances, follow that of any typical crime of vampire aide –a fine and immediate dismissal of the hunter along with a court case to determine period of jail time, the average being four months. And then, of course, also the immediate disposal of the vampire, if not done already.”

 

Lance felt like the room was spinning. Everything somehow seemed both too real and incredibly unreal. How was it that they were just laughing together mere hours ago (or had it been a full day already? he wondered in the back of his mind) and now this was their fate. It took him a moment before his mind seemed to catch up and he processed her words. ‘Under normal circumstances’, was what she had said. He was afraid to let the small spark of hope bloom.

 

She must have expected his stunned silence because she continued, unfazed. “That is, however, not going to be the case here if you choose to cooperate.”

 

Lance looked up at her, hesitant to hope. “What do I have to do?”

 

“The organization is currently under a dangerous threat –one that unfortunately exists from the inside. To put simply, there are worse traitors than yourself within the Garrison and we need to sniff them out and get rid of them.”

 

“What do you mean traitors?”

 

“I’ve recently become aware that there are either vampires within our members or hunters who are directly aiding a dangerous coven, or perhaps a combination of the two. A coven leader who has been rising in power in recent years is still just as far from our grasp as it was when we first learned of its existence. However, we’ve discovered that the same does not hold true on their end. We’ve even had technology, as well as secure research files and samples, stolen by them.”

 

“How do you know its them stealing the stuff?” Lance asked, then quickly added, “I’m just wondering.”

 

“They make sure we know,” she said vaguely, her eyes narrowed with anger at the memory. “During the most recent attack, there were eight casualties.”

 

Lance swallowed and chewed his lip in thought. “So,” he started, “You want me to help you find the traitors…? Why me? What am I going to do that you can’t?”

 

The chief sighed, “It’s dangerous to do this investigation without alerting the traitors and we also know that this coven has figured out ways to cheat our tests, hiding themselves. So testing everyone scientifically would not only be risky and a long process, but it wouldn’t necessarily be accurate and it wouldn’t help us find the human traitors. Which is why we need to use a vampire to systematically, and covertly, smell out the traitors. Only, a vampire has no incentive to tell the truth. Even with threats, they must know that, in the end, they’ll just be disposed of regardless. So we can’t trust their word even if they do “cooperate”. You, however, brought us a trump card that we could use. Your vampire _has_ incentive to tell the truth –it obviously has some sort of attachment to you. And I would be willing to pardon you and your vampire _if_ it meant that I could remove these traitors from my organization.”

 

The bud of hope within Lance bloomed. Keith was _still alive._ And maybe, just maybe, they _were_ going to get out of this okay.

 

“So, if we cooperate and help you find these people working with the coven leader, you’ll pardon us? Completely? Not just for while we help you, but afterwards, too?” Lance asked. He felt like he could cry again.

 

“Yes. We will keep previously enforced rules in place, but we will act as though we don’t know of your distasteful relationship. So like before, if we find your vampire attacking a civilian, for food or otherwise, it will be disposed of immediately. If the blood rations aren’t enough, then you either have to restrain it to prevent attacks out of bloodlust or use your own blood. You can petition for extra blood for extreme circumstances only, but we will not guarantee it will be given to you. The band stays where it is, as it allows us to track and subdue with electric shock as needed. We will, however, remove the lethal poison from it. Do you agree to these conditions?”

 

Lance was taken aback for a moment –not knowing that Keith has had a dose of lethal poison sitting around his neck this entire time. He quickly shook the thought away and returned to the conversation. “Yeah- I mean, yes.”

 

Holloway nodded and pulled one of the other folders aside, taking out a document that had to be forty pages long. She pushed the document across the table. “That is the written agreement I wrote up myself. It will be filed privately as this will not be made public knowledge within the Garrison or otherwise. Feel free to read through it all if you wish. Signing is on the last two pages. There is a portion on family and friends, if that was a concern of yours. I figured that, unfortunately, those close to you probably are already aware of your vampire’s identity. You don’t seem the type to keep secrets. Normally, all parties aware of traitorous activity who choose not to report it would be fined, but instead I will merely inflict a heavy fine on you and be done with it. Is that fair?”

 

“Yeah, I… yes, that’s fine,” Lance said. He was prepared to read through this entire document three times if he had to, just to make sure everything was safe like she was saying.

 

“Good,” she said, then stood up and gathered her folders together again. “After you are done reading through that and have signed, we will return here to discuss what _you_ need to do for _us_.”

 

“Return? Where are we going?”

 

“Taking you to your vampire. I want you to explain things to it and ensure that it will be a trustworthy resource for us. You can read the document while you are down there.”

 

Lance tried not to make his eagerness to see Keith show, but it was a difficult thing to hide.

 

When they left the room, Holloway spoke in low tones to the man waiting beside the doorway. Lance didn’t recognize him, but he assumed that he was the chief’s assistant by the way they interacted with each other.

 

“Get the others out for a while. I’m not taking risks for leaked information. Throw them all into examination rooms. And remind the guards to keep them restrained and supervised at all times,” she said. The man nodded and made his way down the hall.

 

Holloway led Lance down the opposite way. Lance followed, holding the folder with the document pressed against his chest as though the offer would vanish if he let go of the papers. He also brought his half empty water bottle with him. Not necessarily for his own use, but in case Keith needed it. Though water probably wouldn’t help much if the vampire needed blood, he felt that it wouldn’t hurt to bring it in case it could help with something.

 

The chief led the way up to her office where she dropped off the other files. Lance figured she was probably just buying time so that her assistant could ‘get the others out’ –though he wasn’t sure what the details of that situation were, nor was he sure if he wanted to know. After the quick stop at her office, Holloway led the way down the hall and into an elevator. They got out at the basement level, but the hunter quickly learned that the Headquarters’ basement went even deeper. She led him to a door, which she unlocked with her access card, and then continued down a flight of stairs. Down another hall, Lance finally saw the assistant waiting with a couple guards by a large double door.

 

“We’ll check back in two hours and, if you are done, we will return upstairs. These doors only open with special access cards so you won’t be able to leave until we open them for you. If there is an emergency, there is a buzzer by the door that you can press and the security here will collect you.”

 

Lance nodded and watched with anticipation as she swiped her card and a guard slid open one side of the door. He had only just stepped inside the room when he could hear the door already being closed behind him. The lock clicked and then he was left with a silent, (seemingly) empty room. It was full of cages and honestly gave him chills –both figuratively and literally. The dim lights quickly brightened to a more reasonable light –he figured the guards must have turned them on for him- but it didn’t make the place seem much less dingy. His heart ached for Keith who had to wait here, locked up like some caged animal.

 

His walk picked up when his eyes landed on a figure inside one of the cages –the only cage that wasn’t empty- and then his walk turned into a run as he couldn’t help his excitement and relief and, honestly, so many damn emotions all fighting around inside him. He stopped right in front of Keith’s cage and deflated the tiniest bit when he saw that he was asleep. _Or probably knocked out by those men_ , his mind supplied. The vampire’s position seemed too awkward and unnatural to be a sleeping position so it was probably true, but his breathing was even, so Lance felt it was safe to relax.

 

The hunter sat down and began reading through the document as he waited for Keith to wake up. He was a few pages into his second read-through when he heard a soft groan. Lance’s head poked up immediately and he watched Keith shift around uncomfortably for a moment before slowly opening his eyes. It took a couple blinks before his eyes lifted enough to meet Lance’s. When they did, though, they immediately widened in shock.

 

“Lance…?” the vampire said, as though he were too shocked to believe what he was seeing was real. And Lance figured, he probably was.

 

“Yup,” he smiled, putting down the papers and scooting closer.

 

Keith’s face was full of emotions –a lot of them all at once. He quickly shuffled in the cage, having to clumsily crawl a bit to get to the front. His hands gripped the bars as he leaned against the front of the cage, desperate to be as close as he could. The hunter could see the tears in his eyes and he could feel the sting of his own threatening to show up, too. Then the first tear ran down Keith’s face as he said, in a choked voice, “I didn’t think I’d ever get to see you again.”

 

That’s when Lance’s efforts were lost and his tears fell as well. “Can’t get rid of me that easily, didn’t I tell you that?” he said.

 

“How are you even here right now? What’s going on?”

 

Lance cupped Keith’s cheeks before closing his eyes and leaning his head closer so that their foreheads were gently touching through the bars of the cage. “I’ll explain it all, don’t worry. But the short of it is, that we're gonna be all right.”

 

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! :)
> 
> I would make a comment about it being long, but my chapters are becoming consistently long so I feel like that's not necessary to say anymore, haha. I hope you all enjoy the long chapters though! Part of the reason why they end up long is because I try to avoid ending on cliffhangers. I like to end the chapters on a happy, or at least lighter, note whenever I can. ^o^ Even if it means making the chapter twice as long just to get to that point, haha.
> 
> Twitter: [@kurisu_kuma](https://twitter.com/kurisu_kuma).


	15. Hunting the Hunters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Deals, decisions and anxiety.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to let you guys know that there will not be any major character deaths at any point in this story. So there's no need to worry about that. :) A couple of you have asked me about this before and there's a scene in this chapter that I feel could seem like foreshadowing of it, but I promise that that's not the case. So no worries! <3

-

 

Keith held his chin in his hand, digesting the information. He had been silent for a couple minutes after Lance had finished explaining everything that happened in his ‘interrogation’ room.

 

“So, this is really legitimate? They really aren’t going to just kill me once I do what they want me to do for them?” the vampire asked. The deal that Lance had been offered seemed like more than he could have ever hoped for, considering what kind of organization the Garrison was. He couldn’t help but to be skeptical, no matter how much he hoped it would be true.

 

“I’m searching through the document for loopholes, but so far, it _seems_ legit,” Lance answered honestly as he took a sip of his water bottle. (Keith politely declined. Water didn’t do much for him anyway.)

 

Keith hummed in thought. He wondered if the Garrison would be able to just disregard the contract when they were done with him. He doubted anyone other than his friends would find anything wrong with that. If vampires were supposed to be killed anyway, why would any lawyer -or anyone- find a crime in them doing just that?

 

He peered up at Lance. The hunter was scanning through the pages with a look of determination. He seemed to have so much hope that this would save them. So Keith decided to have some hope too.

 

Plus, at the end of the day, he figured that it was either die now or take a risk and maybe die later. So it wouldn’t hurt to see this ‘deal’ through.

 

“Can I read it too?” Keith asked.

 

Lance lifted his head up and nodded. He unclipped the stack of papers and handed him the smaller stack that he had already read through (Keith wasn’t sure how many times Lance had read through the entirety of this contract already). And so he began reading through it as well.

 

When Keith was around ten pages into the document, Lance spoke up in a small voice.

 

“I’m sorry, by the way,” he said, his head still lowered. “You wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place if it weren’t for me. …I feel like I’m always getting you into bad situations.”

 

Keith looked down at the bottom of the cage he was in. He was silent for a moment before speaking. “Lance…” he started, “I mean, maybe that’s true. But you know what? If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be here in this situation because I wouldn’t be here at all.”

 

Lance looked up at him and the vampire sent him a small smile before continuing.

 

“I’m alive right now _thanks_ to you,” he said softly. “And when I say that now, I actually mean ‘alive’. Er, I mean, maybe that’s a dumb thing to say… I don’t know. But I actually feel _alive_ thanks to you. And Shiro and the others too, of course. You’ve made me feel like I have a life worth living again and you make me happy every day. So, yeah, if things were different, I maybe wouldn’t be here right now - _fine._ But don’t think I would have been better off not staying with you, because I wouldn’t have been. I’m _glad_ that I’m with you –I don’t regret it for a second.”

 

Lance’s wide eyes eventually softened and his smile returned. “I love you, you know that?”

 

Keith snorted, but smiled as he directed his eyes back down to the papers in his hand. “I do too.”

 

-

 

The two discussed the contract back and forth. They brought up anything that they could think of that could be a potential issue or loophole and carefully read over the parts that addressed it. Lance was definitely going to double check on a couple things, but beyond that they couldn’t really think of anything that needed to be added –aside from one issue that they discussed. It seemed the chief was very thorough.

 

The guards had come to check on them once, but Lance asked for a bit more time. When they came back a little while later though, the pair figured that they were ready to meet with the chief once more. Shortly after, Holloway entered the room -silent except for her heels clicking against the dusty concrete floor. She carried a few folders in her arms and approached Lance, her eyes only briefly flicking to Keith.

 

“Has a decision been made?” she asked.

 

Lance made eye contact with Keith before turning back to the chief. “Yeah, we’re going to accept. I just, uh, wanted to ask a couple questions about some things first, if that’s okay.”

 

Holloway didn’t seem bothered, “All right. You can do so when we get back to the room upstairs. We also need to discuss the tasks your vampire will need to do for us.”

 

“Wait, isn’t Keith coming too? Shouldn’t he be there when we discuss that?”

 

Holloway glanced at the vampire who hesitantly looked up at her as well. “No,” she said bluntly. “The two of us will discuss these matters privately. We will inform your vampire on what it needs to do when you return here tomorrow.” Lance and Keith’s eyes met as they both seemed to be feeling the same disappointment and nervousness at the word ‘tomorrow’.

 

The chief, however, simply continued. “We will get the contract finalized and plans for tomorrow set up. Once the contract is signed, I will have the vampire’s lethal poison dose removed from its band. However, I am requiring it to stay overnight for security reasons. You, though, will go home and return here tomorrow afternoon. Understood?”

 

“Understood…” Lance said, though he was saddened and anxious about having to leave Keith here by himself overnight. He also didn’t want to think about how the other boy didn’t seem to even react to the news that his band contained lethal poison. The hunter wondered if he had already guessed that something like that was in there.

 

Holloway gestured for them to leave and it was with a heavy heart that Lance gathered up his things to get ready to follow her. However, he turned to Keith first before standing up. The vampire looked like he wished that he could ask Lance to stay and, frankly, Lance wished that he could as well. He would even spend the night on the floor here if he had to. But since he knew there wasn’t much room for debate, he just let out a deep breath. He then reached through the bars of the cage and gently took hold of one of Keith’s hands before giving it a squeeze.

 

“I’ll be back tomorrow, I promise,” he said with a small smile. Keith tried for a smile as well and nodded as he squeezed Lance’s hand in return.

 

“Sanchez.” Holloway spoke impatiently. She had already begun walking to the door herself.

 

Lance took another deep breath and gave Keith’s hand another small squeeze before using all the strength he could muster to bring himself to let go. He turned to look behind him once and then twice and then a final time before the doors shut and he hoped that these people weren’t lying and that wouldn’t be the last time he saw him.

 

-

 

Once back in his room from before, Lance talked some things over with Holloway. He was mostly just asking for clarification and reassurance that things actually would be how they seemed to be according to the document. He wanted to make sure Keith would continue to receive his food rations the same as before, that no outrageous conditions would ever present themselves later, among other things. Then he was left only with something that he knew wasn’t covered by the contract.

 

“What happens to Keith if something happens to me?” he asked cautiously.

 

The chief leaned back in her chair and raised an eyebrow, “Elaborate.”

 

“I mean, if I…” he trailed off briefly before speaking again with more confidence. “What I mean is, if I am killed –in a vampire attack or whatever the cause- what happens to him?”

 

Holloway’s face was a mask, but she at least seemed to take a moment to figure out the answer. “You are its owner, but when you became its owner, we were also given rights to it by extension. So, if you were to pass away before it does, it would be passed down to us. That is not to say that we would immediately just kill it, I should say. The contract will remain in place and so we would only kill it if we were given legitimate reason. So, most likely, we would keep it in our custody in the way that we deem fit.”

 

The thought of Keith stuck down in that dungeon-looking place made Lance’s chest feel tight.

 

“Can that be changed? Could I propose something different?” he asked, careful. The chief gestured for him to continue, so he did. The hunter knew that they weren’t going to agree to just letting Keith go out on his own, but he thought of an alternative that Keith agreed to (though it seemed to pain the vampire to even have to consider the situation). “Could I have someone else take my spot if I’m gone? Like, can my ownership get passed down to someone else?”

 

“Do you have someone who would agree to take on that task?”

 

“I think so.”

 

Without a word, Holloway took out her cell phone and slid it down the table. When Lance looked up at her in question, she sighed. “Call them and have them give a verbal confirmation. I’ll add these terms to your contract and they will be given a separate form for them to sign tomorrow.”

 

Lance nodded and immediately dialed Shiro’s number. When he glanced at the time on the chief’s phone, he wondered if the other hunter would be working, but then remembered that they were off tonight and were supposed to all go out together. He and Keith were supposed to announce that they were dating tonight. Why did it feel like days had passed since the Garrison burst through his door?

 

When Shiro picked up, he sounded confused. “Hello?”

 

“Shiro, it’s me.”

 

“Lance!?” Shiro practically shouted in surprise. “Where are you right now? What happened? Hunk has been worrying all day –we all have –wondering where you disappeared to… Is everything all right?”

 

Lance couldn’t help but to feel guilty, “Yeah, I’m fine, I promise. I’m sorry, I… I’ll explain everything soon.”

 

“Are you okay?” Shiro asked, clearly worried.

 

“I’m fine. I’m actually at Headquarters right now. It’s a…” he sighed, “a long story.”

 

“Headquarters?” Shiro was quiet for a moment. Lance wondered if he was still trying to decide whether to believe if he was actually okay or not. Then he spoke again, but his tone was more hesitant –like he was scared to ask. “Is Keith with you?”

 

“Y-yeah… he’s here, but he’s okay. He’s going to be okay,” he said, hoping his words would not only ease Shiro’s worry but his own. “He’s actually why I’m calling you right now though. I need to ask if, well, if something were to happen to me… would you take care of Keith? I mean, take care of him in general, definitely, but also, you know, like, legally speaking.”

 

“Lance…” Shiro spoke, his words full of concern. “Are you sure you are okay right now? You’re worrying me. Can I come get you? Do you need help?”

 

“I’m okay, Shiro. I promise. I just… I just need to ask if you would be all right with doing that. It’s not for anything happening right now. I’m safe, I swear,” he tried to smile, hoping it would show through his words. “I’m working out a private contract with the Garrison and I need your verbal confirmation that you’ll do that, if I’m ever not able to anymore.”

 

He heard Shiro sigh from the other end of the phone. “I really hope that you are actually okay. I know you, Lance. I know how you try to hide when you need help and that’s why I’m worried...” He paused. “But yes, I can agree on that. Of course I’d agree.”

 

Lance smiled, “Thank you, Shiro.” And then nodded to the chief.

 

She reached out her hand for the phone and Lance complied. She spoke in an official tone, “Shirogane, I’m assuming? This is Holloway, chief of the Garrison. If you are agreeing to Sanchez’s request and you agree to the terms involved with ownership of a vampire, then I need your verbal agreement now and I will be requesting your signature on an official form within the next 48 hours.”

 

Lance listened as the chief went through the terms involved –the terms that he was now very familiar with- and only released his breath once Holloway’s response indicated that Shiro agreed. It wasn’t that he was worried Shiro would change his mind -he was more worried that Holloway suddenly would change _her_ mind. The chief then hung up and began to gather her things.

 

“I’ll have these terms added and return with the final form in a few hours. Until then, you are to stay put here.”

 

It wasn’t a suggestion and Lance recognized that. So, as much as he’d come to hate the room, he stayed in his seat and waited for her to come back.

 

She returned in, what Lance could only guess was, a few hours and handed him the completed form. He insisted on reading through it again just to make sure and read through the part with the new addition a few times after that. Then he held his breath as he signed it.

 

After everything with the contract was done, Holloway briefly explained what she needed Keith to do for her. Tomorrow she would be “spontaneously” requiring all field hunters and staff to come to the Headquarters office. This would be under the guise of an identification card update, but in reality, Keith would be searching for the scents of vampires. Holloway trusts that he will also be able to sniff out humans who, as she says, “reek of vampires”.

 

She explained that she will require additional work done afterwards, but it will all be similar in nature and, hopefully, less time consuming. She reminded Lance that he needed to be back at the building at noon the next day. And she reminded him not to mention the agenda for the day to anyone, even under the guise of the identification card update. Then she placed a key down on the table (Lance recognized it as his apartment key) and left the room without another word, only this time leaving the door open behind her. Her assistant ushered Lance out and down the halls to the Headquarters’ front entrance. A cab had already been called for him and he made his way home.

 

-

 

When Lance got back to his apartment, he couldn’t help but to think about how empty it seemed.

 

The hunter made his way to his room and flopped down onto his bed. The clock read four in the morning, but he felt like he had been gone much longer. He reached for his phone and frowned when he saw the number of messages and missed calls. The circumstances may have been out of his control, but he still felt guilty for worrying his friends so much.

 

He sent a text in their group chat apologizing for disappearing and assuring them he was okay. He said he would explain everything soon. Then he quickly set an alarm for the morning before he couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer.

 

-

 

The next morning, he had to drag himself out of bed. He saw messages had been added in the chat, but instead of replying there, he decided to give his best friend a call. Despite probably being asleep prior to the call, Hunk answered on the second ring.

 

“Lance! I’ve been worried _sick_! Shiro said you called him last night from Headquarters? What’s going on?”

 

“Sorry, Hunk. I, uh, I’ll explain the entire story later, I promise, but… yeah, I was at Headquarters yesterday -all day yesterday, actually.”

 

“What happened? Are you okay?”

 

“I… I’m okay, don’t worry.”

 

“You know that never convinces me…” Hunk said with a soft sigh.

 

“I know, I’m sorry. I’m okay though. Stuff happened, but it’s all worked out. I just wanted to call to let you know that there’s no need to worry.”

 

Hunk was quiet for a moment. “Lance, I know you are saying that but… honestly, you don’t sound like you’re fine. What happened?”

 

“What? No, I’m totally fine,” Lance tried to reassure the other, but even he could hear the slight crack of his voice when he spoke. “I… um, hey Hunk, actually do you think you could come over after patrol tonight?”

 

“Of course, bud. Anything you need you can just tell me, okay?”

 

“Thanks, Hunk.” Lance paused. “I… I’ll talk to you later?”

 

“Definitely. Take it easy, okay?”

 

“I will.”

 

Lance put his phone down and then held his face in his hands, curling into himself. His body trembled and his jaw felt tight. All of his anxiety from the other day was hitting him all over again and it was overwhelming. He tried reassuring himself that it was going to be fine and that it all really was worked out, but it didn’t help when his thoughts kept suggesting the possibility that he would get back to Headquarters and find out that the whole deal was a lie.

 

He decided to skip having coffee before heading out.

 

-

 

When he got to Headquarters, the assistant from the previous day came to usher him to Holloway’s office. The hunter was surprised when he saw Keith in there with her. He was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall nearby the chief’s large desk.

 

They gave him some kind of grey crew-neck sweatshirt to put over the T-shirt he was wearing, but they had also added a few unnecessary accessories as well. A thick metal collar that dangled loosely around his neck with his black band still in place. A metal chain -no more than five feet long- was attached to the collar and the end of it was held in the chief’s hand. The vampire was also wearing a muzzle that looked like the one he had to wear when they were first getting the band set up. Lance also noticed how tired Keith looked. He wondered if he was able to get any sleep at all.

 

When he walked in the office, Keith turned his head and his eyes widened with relief as they landed on the hunter. Lance smiled a wide smile back at him. He hated having to see him being treated that way, but he was beyond glad just to be able to see him again.

 

“Good, you’re here,” Holloway said without looking up for more than a mere second. She kept her gaze on her laptop screen. She scrolled through with her mouse in one hand and kept a grip on Keith’s chain with the other. As Lance approached, she glanced up once more before speaking. “I’ll be removing the muzzle before we head down to the conference room and I’ll also be handing the chain to you. I expect you to at least try to act like a proper hunter. Which means do not make your feelings for it so obvious.”

 

Lance nodded before realizing that she wasn’t watching him and instead said, “Yes, ma’am.”

 

She sighed as she closed her laptop and stood up from her chair. Lance didn’t miss Keith’s subtle flinch as the chief approached him. She leaned down and activated the scanner on the muzzle, unlocking it. Then she roughly pulled it off before making her way back to her chair. She kept her hold on the chain though, and even deliberately gave it a slight pull after she sat down. Lance wondered if she was doing that as a rude way to get Keith’s attention or if she was just doing it because she could.

 

The vampire grimaced at the motion but kept his eyes on the floor. It was only after she tugged a second time, with a bit more force, that he hesitantly looked up at her.

 

“It’s time for you to get your orders,” she spoke coldly. Then she glanced up at Lance and added, “You will get your instructions as well. Take a seat.”

 

The hunter nodded and silently accepted one of the seats in front of the chief’s desk –the one closer to where Keith sat.

 

Then Holloway went through all of the instructions and explanations. They would be managing a table as each individual that works within the Garrison comes into the room. Lance’s job was to perform a fake ID card update. He would take their hunter’s ID and scan it and then log it into the organization’s laptop. Meanwhile, Keith will be sitting beside him catching each member’s scent. If the scent tells him that the individual is either a vampire or smells of vampires, then he is to give Lance a signal. If given the signal, Lance will alert Holloway using a program on the laptop and she will have these individuals escorted out of the room through a different door –leading to where guards will grab them and bring them into a holding room for interrogation.

 

It was after the chief’s instructions that Lance suddenly remembered some very key information. Haxus.

 

“Um, sorry to go a bit off topic, but I actually just remembered something that I think you should know about,” Lance spoke up awkwardly. Holloway raised an eyebrow. Lance continued, “Actually when we were at the Gala… we, uh, we found one of your vampires. That is, Keith did. He pointed him out to me.”

 

This time, Holloway genuinely seemed interested. “This would have been nice to know sooner,” she paused, “but better now than after we get involved in the process, I suppose. Who is this traitor? Do you have a name?”

 

“His name was Haxus… er, Haxus something. He works in recruitment.”

 

She narrowed her eyes, “Caldwell, huh? And you are certain of this?” This time her eyes went to Keith.

 

“I don’t have any doubt,” Keith said. “Plus, he practically admitted it to me when I confronted him.”

 

Holloway accepted the answer with a short nod before grabbing her phone. Lance listened as she gave orders to have Haxus pulled aside when he arrives. After that was done, it wasn’t long until she escorted them to the conference room and got them set up. She attached Keith’s chain to the heavy desk using a steel padlock and then showed Lance how the work on the computer was to be done.

 

The actual process of checking each individual hunter and staff was long, to say the least. It seemed like a never-ending line of people. (And it was a bit awkward when he encountered his friends who now only had more questions for him that he would have to answer later.) But, the work itself was a simple, mindless process so the hunter figured that it could have been worse. At the start, he wasn’t sure how many ‘traitors’ were actually hiding within the organization, but he figured that surely there couldn’t be that many. (Probably?) But when they came up with a total three with Haxus included, Lance wasn’t sure if that was more than he was expecting or less. Sure, it was a small percentage out of the hundreds of employees he checked, but that still meant that two vampires and a human supporter of Zarkon’s had managed to get inside the organization without being detected. Which, he supposed, was pretty significant and dangerous.

 

These individuals were taken to separate interrogation rooms and once all of the checks were done, Holloway took Keith with her to the rooms. She told Lance that his work was done and could return home for the day if he wished to, but she went on to say that he could either wait for a few hours or just come back in the morning to collect “his vampire”. Lance chose to wait.

 

The hunter waited in the Headquarters’ lobby for hours, watching the clock tick and the outside sky go from an orange sunset to a black, starry night.

 

Then the chief returned with Keith.

 

The vampire was finally free of the unnecessary collar and chain and followed beside Holloway nervously.

 

“Is everything done?” Lance asked, trying not to make his hope seem too obvious.

 

“Yes, we are done for today,” Holloway said as she handed him a large file that Lance recognized as the contract from the other day. “Here’s a copy of the contract as well as a copy of Shirogane’s ownership form for your own personal reference. Carbon copies of both of our signatures as well as Shirogane’s are included on the last pages of each document respectively. I will be requiring your assistance in the future with similar tasks, but for now, you are free to return to your regular schedule.” She paused for a moment before continuing. “The poison dose has already been removed and, as you can see in the file in front of you, Shirogane signed the form about your vampire’s ownership earlier today. So all of those issues have been resolved now as well and we are done with it. I will remind you that you must keep following the given rules though -or else the contract will not protect your vampire. That being said, however, I did greatly appreciate its work today.” She then turned to Keith briefly before returning her gaze to Lance. “I thank you both for your work and cooperation today. As much as I usually dislike vampires and vampire sympathizers, I am grateful to have you two as useful ‘specialists’ at my disposal.

 

Lance smiled, “Thank you for offering the contract to us. We’ll be happy to help in the future.”

 

A rare smile flashed across the chief’s face in response, “Good. I’ll be calling you when you are needed next. For now, just go home, get some rest and then resume your usual work schedule.” She began to leave and spoke again with her back already turned. “You’re a good guy, Sanchez. Glad to have you working with us here.”

 

When Holloway turned down the hall, Lance let out a sigh of relief. It had been a long two days, but they were finally done. He gently touched Keith’s hand and interlaced his fingers between the vampire’s own.

 

“So, are you ready to go home?” he smiled.

 

-

 

Keith fell asleep on Lance’s shoulder during the cab ride home and the hunter gently woke him up once they arrived at the apartment. Things were finally starting to seem normal again as he unlocked his door and made his way inside.

 

“Were you able to get any sleep last night?” Lance asked as he locked the door behind him.

 

“I’m not even sure,” Keith said with a sigh. “I don’t feel like I did at least. Though I’m not even sure _when_ anything was either. There’s no way to tell what time or even time of day it is down there.”

 

Lance frowned, “I’m sorry you were stuck down there… That place seemed creepy just from the couple hours I was down there.”

 

Keith just shrugged, “It wasn’t great, but it could have been worse, I guess. They fed us at least. Though I swear the rations are smaller… unless I was just imagining it.”

 

The hunter opened up the refrigerator and pulled out a soda. “You tend to have a good sense for that kind of thing though, so it was probably true. I can’t say that I’m all that shocked either. I mean, I kinda doubt they care about the vampires down there going into bloodlust, you know? Speaking of eating, did you eat yet today?”

 

“Yeah, they gave me some blood before I was brought up to the chief’s office… whenever that was. I’m starving though.” He groaned and dragged himself to the refrigerator as well.

 

Lance chuckled a bit, “Well, you didn’t use last night’s ration either so you have extra if you want it.”

 

Keith considered the idea, “Maybe. I’ll see how I feel after I eat tonight, but I should probably save the extra one for an emergency or something.”

 

Lance leaned against the counter and watched as Keith dug through the refrigerator for his bottle of blood. It hit him that it seemed like ages ago that he was watching the vampire rummage through his refrigerator that first night he found him. He smiled at the thought of how far they’ve come in the span of months since then.

 

They moved to the couch to continue drinking their drinks and they found themselves leaning against each other again. They stayed in comfortable silence until the worries that were bouncing around in Lance’s mind finally made their way out.

 

“I was really scared, you know,” he said, his voice quiet.

 

“Me too,” Keith spoke quietly as well. Another silence followed until Lance began to speak again.

 

“I left last night terrified that that was going to be the last time I’d ever see you,” Lance spoke with a shaky voice. Keith put his empty bottle down on the coffee table and then pressed himself closer to the hunter. Lance continued, “I was so scared that they were going to kill you, Keith. I was so… I didn’t know what to think- what if they just… Or what if I said one thing wrong and it made the whole deal collapse? And either way it would have been my fault… I was so scared that I was going to lose you and I wouldn’t even have anyone else to blame because it all would have been my-”

 

Keith cut him off by pressing his hands against the hunter’s cheeks, squeezing his face and turning it to face him. Lance didn’t realize until that moment that he had started crying.

 

“Stop it. Lance. Look at me,” Keith said with gentle force. “It wouldn’t have been your fault, okay? If something… if something did end up happening to me, you know that I wouldn’t have blamed you. _Please_ know that I wouldn’t have blamed you. Not for any of it. Hey,” his voice became even softer and he wiped one of Lance’s tears with his thumb, “I’m still here, aren’t I? It’s okay. I’m okay because of you. We’re okay.”

 

Lance reached his arms out and wrapped them around the vampire like his life depended on it. He squeezed him tight and gently pushed until Keith’s back was pressed against the couch and he was lying on top of him. He rested his face in the crook of the other boy’s neck, letting himself cry. Keith wrapped his arms around the other as well and held him close.

 

They stayed like that for a while until Keith began to wonder if Lance just fell asleep. That is, until the hunter spoke –his words slightly muffled as he kept his face still pressed against the other boy.

 

“I’m so glad you’re still here,” he said.

 

Keith hummed and a small smile made its way to his face, “I’m glad too.”

 

“I would have missed you a lot.”

 

“I would have missed you too.”

 

“ _So much_ , Keith. I would have missed you so much.”

 

“I know,” the vampire smiled.

 

Then Lance shifted a bit, propping himself up on his elbows so he could look at Keith, their faces mere inches apart from each other. His eyes were still pink from crying, but he was smiling again. “I’m so glad you’re still here.” Then he kissed Keith on the cheek. “So glad.” Another peck on the check. “So, so glad.” Two pecks on his other cheek.

 

Keith laughed, which made Lance’s smile grow. “I love you, you know,” the vampire said.

 

“I do too,” Lance smiled. And then he leaned down again and pressed his lips against Keith’s.

 

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! :) 
> 
> I was sick for a while and then also had a bit of writer's block so I'm posting this later than I had originally hoped. I apologize for the wait. ;A; I do plan to have the next chapter done sooner though! 
> 
> I've been excited about this next chapter so I've actually already written a good chunk of it, so (as long as my writer's block doesn't decide to make a reappearance) I should be able to have that up relatively soon. ^o^
> 
>    
> Twitter: [@kurisu_kuma](https://twitter.com/kurisu_kuma).


	16. Meeting the Parents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Keith get back into their (sort-of) routine; Lance brings Keith to visit his family.

-

 

That night, the two fell asleep on the couch curled up in each other’s arms. Lance only woke up when he felt his phone buzzing in his pocket. It was early morning and he yawned as he (reluctantly) untangled himself from Keith’s arms and sat upright. He pulled out his phone to see Hunk’s picture on the screen. Then he immediately remembered what he had asked his best friend when they talked the previous day. He carefully stepped off of the couch and answered the phone as he made his way across the room.

 

“Hey, Bud!” he said, the sleep quickly fading from him.

 

“Hey, Lance! Don’t worry! I didn’t forget! I’m on my way now. I had to go back to my apartment first, but I’ll be there shortly. Are you already home?”

 

“Er, yeah. I actually didn’t go out on duty tonight so I just woke up.”

 

“Because you were at Headquarters today?” Hunk asked. Lance could practically hear him raising an eyebrow.

 

“I know, I know. I’ll explain everything. I promised, didn’t I?”

 

“You did actually, so I’m holding you to that,” Hunk teased. After a short pause though, he added, “You’re sounding a lot more like yourself today.”

 

“Yeah,” Lance smiled. “Like I said, I’ll explain everything.”

 

After he hung up, he quickly dashed to his room to put on more comfortable clothes than the outfit he had put on for working at Headquarters. He came back to the room and looked at Keith sleeping soundly. He hated to wake him, but figured he should probably move him. The curtain did a good job keeping the light out, but he knew that it still made the vampire a bit uneasy. So sleeping in the bedroom was always better. Before he could decide to either wake him up or try to carry him down the hall, however, there was a knock at the door.

 

Lance made his way over and let Hunk inside. Before doing anything else, Hunk wrapped the other in a tight hug. Lance relaxed into it immediately.

 

“Thanks, Hunk,” he smiled.

 

They walked further into the living room and Hunk chuckled quietly when he noticed Keith passed out on the couch. Lance decided that, as much as he wanted to just let the other sleep, he should wake him up and let him sleep in the bedroom. He also wanted to ask if he could tell Hunk about their relationship. They would be telling the others soon anyway and it would make telling this story easier, but he wanted to check with the other first.

 

“Pssst,” Lance whispered next to Keith, poking his cheek and then gently nudging him awake. “Keith, wake up for a sec.” The vampire groaned a bit, annoyed at having his sleep disturbed.

 

“…What?” he asked, not bothering to even open his eyes.

 

Lance just laughed a little. “The sun’s up. I just thought you should migrate to my room.”

 

Keith still didn’t open his eyes, but he pursed his lips as he seemed to weigh the pros and cons of getting up from his comfortable spot on the couch.

 

“How about…” the vampire finally started, “How about instead… you just make sure the curtains are closed and then come back over here with me?” He waved his hand haphazardly to gesture him to come over, still only half awake.

 

Lance blushed a bit, knowing that Hunk definitely heard that and would definitely put two and two together. He cleared his throat awkwardly before speaking, “So _Hunk_ , if you want to take a seat somewhere you can.”

 

Despite being half asleep, Keith got the message. He tensed and his face began to heat up as he realized. Then he suddenly willed himself to sit up, but was too embarrassed to meet Hunk’s eyes.

 

“H-hey, Hunk,” he said, fidgeting with his messy hair. “Sorry. I didn’t know you were… here.” He coughed once, clearing his throat. “Anyway, I think I’ll go over to your room, Lance. You know, ‘cause of the sun… and stuff…”

 

Lance couldn’t help but to chuckle a bit. He followed Keith down the hall, pretending to need to grab something from his room. Then once Keith already flopped onto Lance’s bed, the hunter spoke in a shushed tone, “Sorry! After everything that happened, I forgot I asked Hunk to come over this morning. We’ll be quiet though. I wanted to talk to him about the past few days. But I also wanted to run it by you first –particularly… you know, the part about our relationship status. I know we decided before to tell everyone at once.”

 

Keith opened his eyes and propped himself up on his elbow. He contemplated it for a second before speaking, “No, it’s fine. He’s your best friend. Plus, it’s not like we won’t be telling everyone eventually anyway.”

 

Lance smiled, “That’s true.”

 

Keith smiled a bit too before letting his head fall back onto the squishy pillow. “Now let me sleep. I’ve been lacking in sleep for the past few days and I don’t think you want to have to deal with a pissed off, sleep-deprived vampire.”

 

“I’m quivering in fear,” Lance teased. A goofy grin stayed on his face as he left the room, carefully closing the door behind him. He rejoined Hunk in the living room and found his friend immediately looking at him with a look that Lance knew as the “don’t think I don’t know what you are hoping I don’t know” look.

 

“You don’t have to give me that look,” he laughed as he took a seat. “I was about to tell you anyway. Yes, me and Keith are… well, ‘a thing’ now.”

 

Hunk smiled. “I’m happy for you. I predicted that this would happen eventually, probably,” he teased. “But that doesn’t change the fact that I’m really happy for you.”

 

“Thanks, Hunk,” Lance returned the smile, a faint dusting of pink on his cheeks. “I’m really happy too, honestly. He’s a really good guy, you know? And I like him a lot. I really want to bring him home to meet my family, but…” his smile faltered, “I can’t say I’m not worried about how that will go down. I have a few different approaches, but all of them could result in a not-so-great outcome…”

 

Hunk looked at his friend with sympathy. “Do you have to tell them right away? I mean, tell them that he’s a vampire. Could you try meeting over dinner or something that would give you the excuse to meet after sunset? Or they could come over your place, maybe? Just gotta keep the curtains closed.”

 

Lance sighed, “Yeah, that’s an option. I just know we’ll be on edge though if we have to hide it –especially Keith, I know he’ll be really nervous. He’ll probably be nervous no matter what approach we take, honestly. And I can’t even blame him.”

 

“I know that you don’t need even more to worry about –so I’m only telling you because it’s important- but you also need to keep in mind that telling them puts them at risk for punishment. I mean, I guess I don’t technically know if that applies since you guys have the whole, you know, ‘arrangement’ with the Garrison and all that, but they could still be at risk –especially if the Garrison ever finds out that… well, you know…” He trailed off.

 

“Actually,” Lance began, “that’s kind of what I wanted to talk to you about.” Hunk just looked at him with concern and so Lance took that as his cue to continue. “The reason that I disappeared before was actually… the Garrison caught footage of me and Keith at the Gala. We were in an empty hallway far from the dance hall and we were both kind of emotional and caught in the moment and I wasn’t thinking and we kissed and… well, they saw it.

 

“We didn’t know until a little while later when they barged into my apartment while we were sleeping and attacked us –I swear, Hunk, they literally came in and attacked us like we were…” _Vampires._ “I wasn’t hurt that bad… mostly just rough-housed a bit and really shaken up -and scared. I thought they were going to _kill_ him, Hunk.” Lance’s voice slowly faded into almost a whisper. The words were pushing their way out of his throat and then painfully echoing in his head, making him feel the remnants of that fear and anxiety.

 

“They knocked him out with something in that band. I don’t know if it was a shock or a drug or what, but he just fell limp on the ground and they secured him like he was a feral animal. He wasn’t even conscious –he wasn’t about to bite them!” Lance exclaimed before just sighing. “They separated us on the ride over to Headquarters and I didn’t see him for hours after that. I kept worrying that they had already…” Lance’s breath shook and he swallowed his words. “…It wouldn’t have been out of character for them if they did. It’s not like they would ever give a vampire, like, a trial or anything like that.

 

“But then the miracle was that he _was_ okay! The chief offered me a deal that would let us go back home and keep living our lives –both of us. Yeah, we had an end of the deal to hold up, but it wasn’t anything unreasonable. It was a miracle. That’s why were we working at Headquarters yesterday –we were working under the chief’s special orders. And it all worked out all right. Which I… I’m just so glad.” Lance could feel the threat of tears stinging in his eyes –tears from both reliving what happened and from being so relieved that they made it through.

 

“But when I called you before, I was scared. I was… I was starting to doubt that the deal was real. They had kept Keith there overnight. They kept him locked up in a cage in this dingy cellar that looked more like a dungeon in my opinion… it was cruel, how they treated him. And I was scared that I would go back to Headquarters that morning and find out that the deal… that it was all a lie… I was so scared. I was scared that the last time we’d see each other would be me promising that I was coming back but then he was only left alone until they decided to get rid of him…” His voice shook slightly. “As if he weren’t a _person…_ as if things out of his control somehow made him unworthy of just being allowed to live. I just… it’s j-just so unfair, Hunk...” His tears won the battle and a couple stray ones fell down his face. He thought he had only closed his eyes shut for a second, but maybe a second was all it took for Hunk to be at his side, wrapping his warm arms around him. Lance had begun his recounting of the story foolishly thinking that he had gotten out all of the crying he needed to get out when he talked to Keith before. He was wrong.

 

But Hunk was his best friend. And he gave the best hugs. And he cared so much. And Lance didn’t know what he would ever do without him.

 

-

 

Hunk stayed over and the two of them napped in the living room during the afternoon. It was already evening by the time Keith got out of bed. He yawned as he made his way out of the bedroom and down the hall. Lance and Hunk were already up as well.

 

“Hey, sleepyhead,” Lance teased when the vampire entered the room.

 

“I was tired, okay?” Keith grumbled with no real bite to his words. Lance just chuckled.

 

“Me and Hunk were just talking about having everyone here tonight. Would you be up for that?”

 

“Oh, uh, sure,” Keith said, joining them in the living room.

 

And so it was quickly decided. The rest of the group came over a few hours later and they all enjoyed each other’s company like usual. Of course, they all wanted to hear what had happened so Lance told the story early on in the night. He also happily announced that he and Keith were dating. Lance didn’t understand why no one was surprised. Keith just felt a bit silly that everyone seemed to have a feeling that the two of them liked each other except for, well, the two of them. But he supposed that that’s how those things usually happened. (Probably.)

 

As the night went on, shenanigans ensued and everyone seemed to agree that it was a night for celebration. Keith didn’t argue. They ordered a few pizzas and sat around the room laughing and eating. Lance and Keith sat side-by-side, leaning against each other. Lance noticed Keith eyeing his slice of pizza and grinned at him.

 

“You wanna try a bite?”

 

Keith pouted. “It actually looks kind of good, but it still probably won’t…” he trailed off.

 

“You don’t have to, but you can if you want! What part of the pizza was your favorite?”

 

“Hmm…” he debated. “The crust, probably.”

 

Lance carefully ripped off a chunk of his crust and held it out, “Here.”

 

Keith took it and looked at it like it personally offended him, but decided to take a chance. He hesitantly bit into, but immediately groaned.

 

Lance looked disappointed. “No good?”

 

Keith just groaned again and stuck his tongue out as if exposing it to air would get the taste off of it.

 

“You’re not going to be sick, are you?” Lance asked, leaning away slightly –despite the fact that he would still be in range of being thrown up on if it came to that.

 

The vampire just shook his head. “I’ll be fine. I’m gonna get the taste out of my mouth though.” He got up and made his way to the kitchen to grab his nightly meal from the fridge. It was getting around time for him to eat anyway so it wasn’t any trouble. He was surprised though when Shiro got up and joined him out in the kitchen.

 

“How are you doing?” Shiro asked with smile.

 

“Hoping to get a bad taste out of my mouth,” Keith said, digging through the fridge. “I don’t know if you witnessed the backfiring of my impulsive decision to give pizza a try.”

 

“Are you okay?”

 

“Yeah, I’m fine. It just tastes bad.” He pulled out his bottle, shutting the fridge behind him.

 

“How about in general?” Shiro asked gently, his tone more serious. Keith recognized his concern.

 

“I’m all right. I mean, I’m good _now_. I just… I’m just glad that all of that’s over. And I’m glad to be able to see everyone again. For a while, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever… you know.”

 

Shiro brought a hand to Keith’s shoulder, his face full of concern and love for his friend. “I’m glad too. There’s no way that I’m losing you twice, you hear?” he smiled, but then his smile fell once more. “I can’t imagine how you felt through all of that… If you ever want to talk about things, you know you can talk to me, okay?”

 

Keith smiled, “I know. Thank you, Shiro.”

 

“On a happier note though,” Shiro added, his smile returning, “I’m happy for you and Lance.” Keith couldn’t help but to smile too. “I’ve been thankful everyday for fate bringing you back into my life and I’m glad to see that this… ‘second chance’, I guess you could say, has brought a relationship like that into your life as well.”

 

“Yeah,” Keith said, his gaze drifted over and landed on Lance. “I’m glad too.”

 

Shiro smiled knowingly as he watched the other. “Back in high school, you know, I always had a feeling that you’d be quite the lovebird when you found someone you really liked.”

 

Keith’s cheeks heated up at Shiro’s teasing, “Shiro!” He pouted. “ _Jeez!_ Who even says ‘lovebird’ anyway? I’m the one who at least has an excuse for being behind on language. You don’t.”

 

Shiro laughed, “It’s fitting though! Look, your cheeks are even turning pink!”

 

“Dammit, Shiro!” Keith complained, but even he couldn’t stop the ends of his lips from turning upwards.

 

After Shiro finished getting a good laugh out of his teasing, he spoke again in a gentle tone. “You know, me and Allura decided on a new place to move into together. We’ll be packing up at the end of the month. We haven’t said anything to the others yet –we wanted today to belong to you two. But before I start packing up my apartment, you should come by again. Just the two of us like old times. We can work out everything so there are no issues with traveling during the day or not having food or anything like that, okay?”

 

Keith looked up at Shiro with a soft expression. He was so grateful to have Shiro as a friend –both in the past and in his life now. “Yeah,” his smile was bright and genuine, “Yeah, I’d like that a lot. Thank you, Shiro.”

 

-

 

The next evening, Lance was back to his usual patrols and Keith settled back into his usual activities that he did when the hunter was out. Sometimes this was taking time to himself, usually in the form of reading, and other times it was helping around the apartment, getting the place clean or just taking care of the dishes. It was a peaceful routine and he enjoyed it –though, of course, he enjoyed when the both of them were home together even more. But he cherished his alone time regardless. It felt very different getting alone time while someone was out versus always being alone.

 

When Lance returned in the early morning, he showered and then cooked a small meal for breakfast. While eating, he asked Keith how he would feel about him telling his parents about them –and about him. The vampire couldn’t deny the fact that it made him nervous, but he knew that it was Lance’s family so Lance had the best judgment on whether or not it was a good idea. He also knew how much Lance loved his family and, therefore, how important this was to him. He encouraged him to tell his family if he wanted to. And so Lance did.

 

Eventually, when the hunter had another night off, he called his mother. He talked to his mother on the phone often, but Keith knew that this was the ‘big phone call’ by how he acted. He was never nervous about calling his mother. He was this time.

 

It was early evening when they started and he stayed on the phone for hours. Keith stayed out in the living room so Lance could have privacy talking in his bedroom. He could finally rest easy when Lance returned to the living room with a smile. The hunter let out a long exhale, seemingly relieved to have gotten through what was surely not an easy conversation.

 

“So how did it go?” Keith asked, hesitant.

 

Lance sighed again, “I think it went well, all things considered, you know? My mom was wary at first and was worried that I wasn’t thinking things through or whatever, but she came around. I’ve always been close with her and she trusts me. By the end of the call, she was actually excited to meet you.”

 

The vampire’s eyes widened in surprised. He was hoping for good news, but he wasn’t expecting that positive of a response. “That’s… surprising, but good. Definitely good.”

 

Lance laughed a little. “Yeah, she’s an amazing woman. You’ll love her.” Then he paused, his expression dropping. “I’m worried about the rest of them though. I feel like my dad won’t be as on board with everything.”

 

“Well…” Keith began, “This is still something. What matters for now is that your mother trusts you and is taking this well. We can deal with the rest as it comes, I guess.”

 

“You know, that sounded wise and thoughtful until you added the ‘I guess’,” Lance snorted.

 

“Do you want my damn comforting words or not?” Keith said, playfully narrowing his eyes at the other.

 

-

 

“So this is the place you grew up in?” Keith asked, looking up at the friendly-looking house.

 

Lance smiled, “Yup, the one and only!” The hunter was beaming with excitement. There was slight nervousness too, but his parents already knew about Keith so the hard part was done. During the week that passed, Lance had called his father to explain everything to him too, but it didn’t go quite the same way. Still though, they decided to bite the bullet and plan a day to visit.

 

His mother was very accepting and eager to meet him and his father… well, not so much, but he was sure that he would come around eventually. And his youngest sister, who normally lived at home, was out of town on a trip. So today was going to be a low-stress evening with just his parents and no lying had to be done. In short, Lance was excited.

 

Until, he knocked on the front door and the one who answered was his ten-year-old niece, Marcia.

 

“Marcy? What are you doing here?” he asked, surprised to say the least.

 

“Dad heard you were visiting so we wanted to see you too!” he said, quickly hugging her uncle. Lance pat her head fondly, but turned to exchange uneasy looks with Keith. Then a barking sounded and suddenly an old beagle was pushing his way through the doorway to greet Lance as well.

 

“Hey, Percy!” he said, crouching down to pet the dog whose tail was wagging so hard it looked like it might fly off. He carefully maneuvered himself through the doorway and Keith followed hesitantly. Marcia pulled Lance’s arm to bring him further into the house. After greeting Lance, Percy began intensely sniffing Keith –much to the vampire’s discomfort. Catching his scent, the dog soon stopped wagging his tail and began growling. Noticing this, Lance urged him away from Keith. “Whoa there, come on, boy. Don’t be like that.”

 

“Lance, who’s your friend? Who is he?” Marcia asked curiously, still not letting go of her grip on his arm.

 

“He’s my boyfriend,” Lance grinned.

 

Marcia’s face lit up with excitement and then she shouted, “Mom, Dad! Lance brought his boyfriend!”

 

“A boyfriend?” Lance’s brother, Gabriel, said with false surprise. He stood up when the three of them reached the edge of the living room. “How on earth did that ever happen? How much does he charge to go along with that while we’re here?”

 

“Ouch! Love you too, Gabe,” Lance said, but he couldn’t hide his own smile. The two brothers beamed at each other and Gabriel ruffled Lance’s hair.

 

“Hey, I’m your older brother. Teasing you is my job,” he laughed. “It’s good to see you again.” Then he shifted his gaze to Keith and extended his hand. “And it’s nice to meet you. I’m Gabriel. I’m Lance’s older brother. That’s my wife, Elle, over there on the sofa and I see you’ve met Marcy.”

 

“Yeah, I, uh, nice to meet you too,” Keith smiled and shook his hand. “I’m Keith.”

 

The group made their way into the living room where the rest of the introductions were made. Lance’s brother was a tall man with an athletic build and looked like he had to be at least ten years older than Lance. But despite that, the way the two acted showed that they were close. Elle was tall as well and had curly black hair that fell to her shoulders, dark skin and a face full of freckles. Marcia had inherited those freckles as well and they covered her tan cheeks. She had long, brown hair that extended nearly to her waist.

 

Lance’s mother on the other hand was a short, stout woman with wild, dark hair and kind, blue eyes. His father was fairly tall with gray hair and glasses. While Lance may have gotten his build from his father, it was clear that he inherited most things from his mother’s side –even down to his blue eyes.

 

When Lance’s mother introduced herself, she gave Keith’s hands a comforting squeeze. And then she proceeded to wrap Lance in a big hug. Keith couldn’t help but to smile at the show of affection and seeing Lance look so happy. Unfortunately Lance’s father wasn’t displaying the same energy. He gave Lance a simple nod and his face hardened when he turned to the vampire. Lance’s mother noticed this and gave Keith a sympathetic look and his arm a soft squeeze.

 

“Who wants drinks?” Lance’s father asked, turning back to the rest of the room. Marcia quickly raised her hand. He let out a short laugh. “Juice for Marcy. Elle?”

 

“I’ll have some coffee,” Elle answered.

 

“Same for me,” Gabriel said quickly after.

 

“Are you going to make a comment if I ask for a beer?” Lance teased, hoping to get a small chuckle out of the man.

 

“No. I’m actually gonna go downstairs and grab a beer too,” Lance’s father replied -not unkindly, but without any sort of chuckle. Then he reached Keith who fidgeted a bit under his gaze.

 

“Just water… is fine,” Keith answered. “Thank you.”

 

“Right.” His voice was cold. Then he turned around and left the room.

 

“What’s got Dad so bothered? He’s been in a mood the whole time we’ve been here,” Gabriel said, leaning back against the couch. “He’s not mad ‘cause he knew you were bringing a boy home, is he? I thought he moved past that years ago.”

 

“I dunno,” Lance lied. Then he turned to Keith with a sad smile, gently pulling his hand and interlacing their fingers. “It’s okay, he’ll come around.”

 

Keith tried to smile back, but it didn’t reach his eyes. He wasn’t so sure that the man would –and he couldn’t even really blame him.

 

The pair sat on an empty loveseat across from the couch that sat Lance’s brother, sister-in-law and niece. His parents had taken two of the single chairs that completed the U-shaped set up.

 

“So how’d you two meet?” Elle asked. It was an innocent (and expectable) question, but the two boys hadn’t prepared to have to make up anything so it froze them in their seats. Lance quickly tried to act as normal as he could.

 

“Work. Unsurprisingly,” he tried for a soft chuckle.

 

“I had a feeling,” Gabriel commented. “So you’re a hunter, Keith?”

 

“Er, yeah,” Keith said, wishing that he could go along with fake stories as smoothly as Lance could.

 

“Personally, I still don’t understand the appeal of a job like that, but I shouldn’t complain ‘cause you guys are doing us all a service, really. You’re brave for taking on a job like that to keep the rest of us safe from those things,” Gabriel continued.

 

“Thanks…” Keith said awkwardly. “It takes its toll though, surely…”

 

“I’m sure it does,” Gabriel said.

 

Lance was about to step in to try to redirect the conversation when his father returned.

 

“Drinks,” he said before setting two cans of beer and a juice box on the counter in the adjacent room. “Gabriel, the coffee’s out here.” He pulled out a container of coffee from cupboard and placed it on the counter as well before heading to his seat. Marcia happily accepted her juice and Lance and Gabriel made their way over as well. The hunter poured a small glass of water and brought it over along with his own drink. Marcia, however, beat him there and jumped onto the loveseat next to Keith.

 

“Hey! I was sitting there!” he said, pretending to be appalled.

 

“You were too slow. _I_ want to sit next to Keith!” Marcia grinned, leaning back against the cushions.

 

“Fine, fine, but scoot over!” Lance said, making a scooting motion with his hip. Marcia didn’t mind since she still got to keep her spot. Lance reached over and handed Keith his water.

 

“So Lance was telling us how they met,” Elle spoke up. “Keith says he’s a hunter too.”

 

“Really?” Lance’s father raised an eyebrow with feigned surprise. “Did you meet while on a job?”

 

Keith fought the urge to sink lower in his seat. He couldn’t help but to think about the double meaning behind the man’s words.

 

“Actually, we met at an event,” Lance spoke up. “It was a gala that the Garrison put on.”

 

“Oh, that sounds so nice!” Lance’s mother smiled. Lance mentally thanked her for playing along despite knowing the truth. And then mentally thanked her even more as she subtly diverted the topic away from Keith. “Does the Garrison host things like that often? That sounds like a really nice thing for all of you.”

 

“Yeah, it was pretty nice. Though to be honest, I mainly only went because Shiro talked me into it,” Lance laughed.

 

“Did Hunk go too?” Lance’s mother asked. “He is such a sweet boy. How is he doing?”

 

“He’s doing fine,” Lance smiled. “He didn’t go, but if Shiro tries to talk me into an event like that again, I might try to drag him along too.”

 

The conversation flowed with minimal stress for a little while. Gabriel returned with the steaming mugs of coffee and joined back in. Things were going all right for a while until Marcia spoke up. She was watching Keith curiously as she sat next to him. He couldn’t help but to be a bit nervous due to the attention, but he tried not to worry about it and just continued to listen to the conversation and sip on his water every now and again. It was during one of these sips that Marcia surprised him.

 

“You’re just like Dandelion!” she exclaimed.

 

Keith tried not to spill his drink due to being caught off guard by the sudden (and bizarre-sounding) exclamation. He looked over at Lance, hoping for some sort of clarification. Lance met his eyes looking just as confused.

 

“Why’s Keith like a …dandelion?” Lance asked.

 

“Not _a_ dandelion… Dandelion! Miss Sandy’s cat!” Marcia explained.

 

Elle laughed from across the room, “She’s talking about our neighbor’s cat. Sandy is a friend of ours so she invites Marcy over to play with the cat a lot.”

 

“I see…” Lance said. He still looked confused, but he was snickering now –amused by the seemingly ridiculous comparison. “Why on earth is Keith like your neighbor’s cat?”

 

“His teeth!” Marcia smiled, pointing to Keith. Lance felt the color leave his face as quickly as his smile did. He didn’t even have to look to know that Keith had tensed as well.

 

“Uh, Marcy, you shouldn’t be so quick to point out stuff like that,” Lance spoke carefully. “The person might be sensitive about it or something.”

 

She turned to Keith, “Are you sensitive about them?”

 

“I, uh… I mean…” Keith spoke, his eyes darting around nervously –scared to meet Lance’s father’s eyes.

 

“Don't worry about it. I bet they’re not that bad. What are they –just sharp canines or whatever? Nothing wrong with that,” Gabriel said.

 

“And if they really bother you, I’m sure there’s a dentist who could file them down or something for you,” Elle added.

 

“Y-yeah… yeah, that’s true,” Keith said, trying to sound engaged when his head was currently spinning and his hands were shaking the glass of water in his lap.

 

“Are you okay? You look a bit shaken up,” Elle added with concern. “I’m sorry if Marcy brought up something that you don’t like talking about.”

 

“No, it- it’s okay, I’m sorry,” Keith said. He wanted to leave the room. This was supposed to be an easy visit –he wasn’t prepared for this.

 

“You don’t have to apologize. We’re the ones who should apologize,” Elle spoke gently.

 

“Yeah, you’re fine. No need to be nervous,” Gabriel said, trying to reassure him as well. “Plus, I mean, it’s not something people probably even pay attention to. It’s not like you came in and we freaked out thinking you were some kind of vampire or something.” Gabriel laughed, but it was cut short when he heard the sound of water swishing. In a moment of panic, Keith had accidently spilled his glass and the water poured down all over his legs.

 

“I’m s-sorry! I’ll clean it up- I’m sorry!” he spoke frantically as he hopped off the couch and kneeled onto the floor where the glass fell (but thankfully didn’t break). He placed the glass on the nearby coffee table and looked over to Lance for help.

 

Lance was immediately up and at his side, “Hey, hey, it’s all right. Accidents happen; things spill. I can clean this up, don’t worry.”

 

“It’s okay, I’ll clean up here. Why don’t you take Keith down the hall and get him dried off,” Lance’s mother suggested.

 

“I’m sure he’s capable of cleaning it up himself,” Lance’s father interjected. His wife turned and shot him a warning look. He scoffed. “He might’ve even spilled it on purpose as an excuse to flee the room.”

 

“You’re being unreasonable,” Lance’s mother responded, sending a glare his way.

 

“Me? You’re the ones being unreasonable, dammit!” the older man’s voice was filled with frustration.

 

“Dad, stop it,” Lance said. His voice was warning, but his eyes were pleading.

 

Lance’s father only turned to his son with a scowl. “I would have thought you of all people would know better than to be this foolish! Not to mention, so incredibly thoughtless as to bring _that_ into our home! Around your _family_!”

 

Keith peered over at Lance out of the corner of his eye, scared to see what the hunter’s face was like after having those words thrown at him. He could tell that Lance was trying to keep his face as neutral as possible, but, despite his skills in making up stories on the spot, he wasn’t the best at hiding how he felt. The vampire’s heart felt heavy as he saw the hurt behind his boyfriend’s eyes.

 

The silence went on for a beat too long and Gabriel and Elle began to demand an explanation. “Okay, what the hell is going on here? What is it that we don’t know?” Gabriel asked, frustrated.

 

“Your brother’s _boyfriend_ here is damn vampire, that’s what’s going on,” Lance’s father spit out. Keith saw the pure shock on the couple’s faces before he quickly glued his gaze onto the floor in front of him instead.

 

“Is that true!?” Gabriel shouted. “What the actual hell, Lance!” Elle quickly stood up and darted across the room, grabbing Marcia and bringing her away from where Lance and Keith were.

 

“Marcy could have gotten hurt!” Gabriel continued.

 

“He wasn’t going to hurt her!” Lance shouted back. “Did he really look like he was about to attack anyone!?”

 

“He’s a _vampire_ , Lance! That’s what they fucking do!” he said with a dark look. Elle tried to cover Marcia’s ears. “You of all people should know that! Killing them is your damn job!”

 

“Yeah! Exactly! I, of all people, should know if a vampire is a threat! So if I’m telling you that he’s not, why aren’t you listening to me!?” Lance exclaimed.

 

“Are you even hearing yourself? Defending a vampire –this is ridiculous! Come on! You’re smarter than this!”

 

“Why’s it so hard to believe that there are good vampires out there!?”

 

“Because vampires survive off of a diet of humans! Forgive me for not feeling safe around a _monster_ that wants to eat me!”

 

“He’s not a monster! And he doesn’t want to eat you! He just needs blood and he can get it without killing people.”

 

“Is that what he told you? That he doesn’t kill people? And you believe that?”

 

“Yes, I _do_ believe him!” Lance said, challenging him to tell him he’s wrong to.

 

“Well, then Dad’s right. You’re being careless and _stupid_ about this,” Gabriel replied before turning to Elle. “Come on, we’re leaving.”

 

They didn’t waste any time leaving either. They said quick, shallow good-bye’s to the brothers’ parents and then pulled Marcia along with them as they stormed down the hall and out the door. Marcia looked at Keith with wide, apologetic eyes until she couldn’t see him anymore.

 

“What was that for!?” Lance shouted as soon as he heard the front door slam shut. “There was no reason to just blurt that out to them!”

 

“They deserved to know, Lance,” his father said with a cold expression. “You’re the one who made a mistake by bringing it into our house. Around little Marcy, no less!”

 

“First of all, we didn’t even know that they were going to be here today –they weren’t supposed to be. Second, that shouldn’t even matter because Keith wasn’t doing anything wrong! Marcy was sitting right next to him and she was fine! Did he honestly look like he was going to attack her? _No!_ I wouldn’t have brought Keith here if I had any doubts! I trust him with my life!”

 

“Lance, it’s-” Keith started, his voice small and hesitant.

 

“No, Keith, it’s not okay,” Lance cut him off. “He should apologize to you.”

 

His father just scoffed, “I don’t have any reason to apologize.”

 

“Honey, you need to apologize to Keith,” Lance’s mother spoke up, her voice firm. Her husband, however, wasn’t budging. Instead, he scoffed again and just left the room without another word.

 

Lance sat back down on the edge of the couch and held his face in his hands with a long sigh. Keith knew that he was still hurt by the harsh words of both his father and his brother, but more than anything else, right now the boy was just fuming with frustration. Keith sat down beside him and leaned his head on the other’s shoulder.

 

“I’m sorry…” the vampire said. “I shouldn’t have come…” This got Lance’s attention and the boy lifted his head back up, causing Keith to lift his head as well.

 

“No, it’s not _your_ fault. You didn’t do anything wrong…” he said. “I’m sorry that all this happened.”

 

Lance’s mother walked over and sat on Lance’s other side. She gently rubbed her hand up and down Lance’s back. “I’m sorry about all of this too. I’ll try to talk to him later after he has some time to calm down. What happened was neither of you boys’ faults though, okay? Keith, dear, I’m sorry for how my husband acted. Please know that you have my blessings, okay?”

 

“Thank you, Ms. Sanchez,” Keith said with a small smile.

 

Lance’s mother encouraged them to stay around and talk for a while –just the three of them. Lance was feeling some of the frustration leave him as he got to spend time with his mother. However, their conversation was soon interrupted by the sound of the home phone ringing. Lance’s mother got up and looked at the caller ID. “It’s Gabe,” she said before picking up. “Hello?”

 

Lance looked up when his mother had gone silent. He noticed the pale, panicked look on her face and jumped off the couch to go over to her. Seeing Lance appear beside her, she quickly pressed the button to bring the call over to speaker. Lance heard his brother’s voice, but he immediately realized that he was not talking to them.

 

“Let her go – _please_! We’ll give you whatever you want, just please, please let our daughter go!” he begged. His voice was slightly muffled and far away which gave Lance the impression that his phone was still in his jacket pocket. He paled when he heard his niece crying.

 

Once Keith heard what was playing from the phone’s speaker, he made his way over as well. He put his hand on Lance’s shoulder and gave him a concerned look. Lance swallowed, desperate for more information from them. Thankfully, Gabriel was smart and knew what he was doing.

 

“We were just going through the park to get back home. Please don’t hurt her,” he pleaded. Getting all the information he needed, Lance was about to leave to grab his backpack and head out to find them in the nearby park when he heard another voice this time. It was harder to hear, but he was still able to make out the words.

 

“You come out here ranting- talking shit about us and now suddenly you’re sorry once your little kid here is in trouble? All humans are the same. Maybe you wouldn’t think vampires are such ‘trash’ if I Turned your kid. How would you like that, huh?”

 

“Please, stop!” It was Elle this time. “She’s just a little girl! Don’t punish her, punish us instead!”

 

But if the vampire responded, Lance didn’t hear it. He dashed without a second thought to the living room, grabbing his knife out of his backpack and throwing the pack over his shoulder before running out the front door. Keith didn’t waste a second either and followed right behind him.

 

The two ran without saying a word. They both knew that they couldn’t spare even a second in a situation like this. Keith was worried, but he knew that his worry wasn’t nearly as intense as Lance’s surely was. He hoped that they made it in time.

 

Since they were running, it didn’t take them long to reach the park and, after that, it didn’t take long to spot the small group of figures in the distance –the park nearly empty besides them. Keith felt a weight in his chest as he saw the vampire trying to pour blood from a cut on his arm into the, now unconscious, girl’s mouth. But the sight didn’t stop Lance from rushing towards the figure and slamming into him, being careful to grab onto Marcia in the process. Keith was right behind him and took hold of the girl as the hunter knocked the vampire to the ground and sliced through his throat.

 

Keith knew that he couldn’t afford to hesitate right now. Marcia had some degree of pureblood vampire’s blood in her body and if it managed to flow through her system then she would almost definitely Turn. It could even be too late now. Plus, he had no idea how much blood the vampire had taken prior to feeding the girl his own. So, with no more than a second of brief decision, he held onto her and bit into her neck.

 

Immediately, there was screaming.

 

“He’s biting her! _He’s fucking biting her!”_ Elle shouted, desperately trying to get close and pull Keith off of the girl. But Lance quickly stood between them, shielding Keith.

 

“Lance.” Gabriel spoke in a cold, severe tone. “Get out of the way and get your bloodsucker off of our daughter!”

 

“Will you guys just listen for a second – _please!_ ” Lance begged. “Keith wouldn’t just randomly attack her! He’s getting that other vampire’s blood out of her body so she doesn’t Turn.”

 

“How do you know that’s what he’s doing!?” Elle shouted again. “He could be killing her and we’re just sitting here fucking letting him!”

 

“He’s not!” Lance said, raising his voice. “I know that he’s not, so just trust me! What you _can_ do is call an ambulance because Marcy is gonna need a blood transfusion A-SAP.”

 

The parents reluctantly listened and Gabriel took out his phone to make the call. Lance waited another moment until Keith pulled his fangs back out and let out a deep breath.

 

“I think I got it all…” Keith said, his breathing heavy. “I don’t… I can’t know for sure, but I think…” He paused and narrowed his eyes at nothing in particular, feeling a bad feeling settling in his body. He gestured for Lance to take Marcy and he did. Once he was no longer holding the girl, Keith stepped aside and vomited on the ground. He could feel all three sets of eyes on him, but he tried to ignore them as another round burned his throat and spewed onto the ground. It was a bloody mess and he knew that it was running down his chin and probably on his shirt as well.

 

“What’s wrong with him? Why is he doing that?” Elle asked. Lance didn’t have an answer for her.

 

Instead, the hunter carefully transferred Marcia to his sister-in-law and then walked closer to Keith. His hand gently rubbed up and down the other’s back. “Are you all right?” he asked, concerned.

 

Keith just nodded, trying to wipe the mess dripping down his chin with his sleeve. “I’m fine… vampire blood is just… makes you sick…”

 

Lance rubbed Keith’s back for another moment before returning to Marcy’s side, checking on her. He finally let out a sigh of relief when he heard the ambulance sirens sounding from nearby. They were running on a clock, but, hopefully, they were going to get Marcia through this okay.

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the chapter! :) 
> 
> I'm sorry that it's a bit of a cliffhanger. I try not to do that usually, but the chapter got longer than I anticipated and I didn't want to leave it off in a worse cliffhanger. To make up for it, I will work extra hard to try to get the next chapter done sooner than my usual monthly update! However, at the moment, I'm also working on a piece for a BigBang, so I can't guarantee how much earlier it will be. I'm sorry! But I will do my best for you all! ^o^
> 
>    
> Twitter: [@kurisu_kuma](https://twitter.com/kurisu_kuma).


	17. Turning and Returning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance's niece, Marcia, is taken to the hospital and everyone waits anxiously to hear about her condition. 
> 
> [*Possible warnings for this chapter include: hospital settings, panic attacks, and vomiting.]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoy the chapter! In addition, here's a little drawing from my twitter [here](https://twitter.com/kurisu_kuma/status/881320271126441984). Thank you all for your continued support! :)

-

 

Keith: Age 16

 

-

-

 

When Keith woke up after the attack, he woke up in an unfamiliar place. He barely even remembered the attack itself, his thoughts were all scrambled and all he could think about was how much pain he was in and how hungry he was. He was lying on the cold floor, curled up and grasping at his hair as the white-hot pain only seemed to get worse and worse. He felt it through his whole body –and it _burned._

 

When he heard the sound of footsteps, he scrambled to his feet, but only fell back down when he tried to step forward. His ankle was shackled and chained to the stone wall behind him, but he continued desperately pulling at it until the figure approached him.

 

He didn’t recognize the woman and, frankly, he didn’t care enough to dwell on it. He crawled on the ground, trying as hard as he could to reach her. The cold, iron shackle digging into his bare skin and his arm stretching as far as it could reach, but the woman stayed just barely out of his reach.

 

She spoke to him, but his brain didn’t comprehend the words. They were just background noise as he struggled. He needed to reach her –he _needed_ to. She smelled so good and he was so hungry. It hurt so much and she smelled so good and he was so so so hungry.

 

He thinks that she might have laughed, but he wasn’t sure. But then after what –to him- felt like hours, she reached and touched his hair. And then he didn’t think after that. He just grabbed her arm like a desperate, starving animal and pulled it to his mouth. He dug his teeth into her skin and devoured every drop of blood that he could get. The taste was indescribable. He was sure that nothing in the world could even come close to comparing to how amazing it tasted. He wanted as much as he could get –he _needed_ as much as he could get and more. He needed more.

 

Nothing else mattered. In that moment, he didn’t care where he was, who she was, even who _he_ was. All he wanted was the pain to stop; all he wanted was to eat.

 

-

-

 

In the present, Keith sat in the uncomfortable waiting room chair and felt sick to his stomach. It didn’t help that his body was still literally feeling a bit sick due to the after-effects of drinking vampire blood, but it also went beyond that. He was anxious, scared and full of dread.

 

They had made it to the hospital and Marcy was getting a blood transfusion, but no one knew how she was going to be when she woke up. The nurses and doctors were, of course, made fully aware of the situation and Lance (because he had his hunter identification) had been given permission to stay in her room as a precaution as they examined her.

 

Everyone was tense that it was too late and she had been Turned.

 

And if that wasn’t already bad enough, as an added bonus, Keith was left in the waiting room with the girl’s parents who were currently eyeing him like he was scum. He knew that they were blaming him for what happened and he knew that no matter what he said, he wasn’t going to change their minds. He already felt guilty and that guilt just kept growing. He supposed he should be thankful at least that they didn’t expose him as soon as Lance left. They could have done so and, while the Garrison may be sparing him, that might not necessarily stop someone else from killing him before he has a chance to explain his situation. He only hopes that they aren’t waiting to do just that -hence, yet another reason for the vampire currently feeling like he’s going to throw up.

 

Then, as the cherry on top, he was stuck in a hospital of all places. He had eaten before him and Lance had left to go to his parents’ house, but (especially after throwing up earlier) he was sure that the smell of blood was going to get to him. It wasn’t too strong now –he doubted any of the humans could even smell it- but being around it long enough was going to take a toll on him.

 

He felt the tiniest bit of his anxiety lift, however, when he saw Lance’s parents making their way to them. Though, truthfully, he was only thankful to see Lance’s mother. Lance’s father was only adding to his fear of being exposed –the man had already done it once mere hours ago, after all.

 

Lance’s mother frowned when she saw her son and daughter-in-law deliberately sitting away from Keith, just giving him looks from across the room. With a small sigh, she gestured for Keith to stand up and follow her. He did without question, though he became nervous when he was standing almost directly in front of two people who hated him. Lance’s father went to sit beside his son and his mother sat down beside her daughter-in-law. Marcia’s parents were clasping each other’s hands tightly. Keith hesitantly sat down next to Lance’s mother, hoping that his being closer to them wasn’t making things even worse.

 

Lance’s mother wrapped her arm around Elle and did her best to provide her with words of comfort. On the other side of them, Lance’s brother and father were talking about Marcia’s condition in hushed voices. Keith felt out of place and, not for the first time, wondered if he should just leave. He doubted there was anything else that he could do at this point to help anyway. If she was Turned, then it’s not like he could give her his blood. She would just suffer the same effects that any vampire got after consuming another vampire’s blood. The blood that she needed had to be from her vampire parent –the one who Lance had killed back in the park. Either that or he supposed human blood might be fine too. But that was thinking under the impression that they were going to let her live. It was painful to think about, but he knew that if they find out she was Turned, they were probably planning on killing her.

 

-

-

 

The air was cold, but Keith welcomed the feeling of the wind against him. He wasn’t sure how long he was kept locked up in that place, but it felt like ages since he had felt the outside air on his skin. There was remnants of snow on the ground, but he didn’t think twice about stepping his sore, bare feet through it. It felt cold, but not the same type of cold that snow was supposed to feel like.

 

He walked through the empty street in a ragged pair of shorts and an old T-shirt that wasn’t his size. Or he supposed it might have been his size before, but after losing weight being trapped in there, it felt big and loose on him now. He was thankful that the streets were fairly empty. It seemed to be early morning and he could see the beginnings of the sunrise sneaking up on the horizon. The only problem was that he didn’t know where to go. He thought about returning to the orphanage, but something in his gut told him that was a bad idea. They didn’t really think well of him before, why would they welcome him when he was a monster?

 

Then there was Shiro.

 

His feet carried him to Shiro’s house before he could convince himself not to. He stood outside for a little while just staring up at the window that he knew belonged to his friend. He wanted to go inside and see him again. He wanted to go inside and ask for help and for Shiro to give him a hug and tell him that it was going to be all right.

 

But that was unlikely, wasn’t it? Shiro was so kind and accepting, but surely there was a limit. If he went inside and ran to him, Shiro would do everything he could to make him feel safe. But then moment he told him what he had become… Keith couldn’t stand the thought.

 

So, with a clenched jaw and eyes full of tears, he turned around and left.

 

-

-

 

Keith only realized that he had been zoning out when he felt a warm hand touch his forearm, immediately pulling him from his thoughts.

 

“How are you feeling?” It was Lance’s mother.

 

“I’m… okay,” he said, unconvincingly.

 

“Here,” she said as she handed him a facemask. He looked up at her in question. “Lance asked if I would bring one for you. I’m sorry, I meant to give it to you when we arrived. I’m figuring it might help with the smell. Do you smell blood out here now?”

 

Keith bit his lip, but gave a small nod in reply. He accepted the facemask with a soft, “Thank you”. Then he put it on, but paused, meeting the woman’s eyes again. “And I’m sorry… I didn’t mean for…” He couldn’t even finish his words. He felt like his throat was closing up.

 

Lance’s mother reached over and gave his hand a squeeze. “It’s okay. It’s not your fault, dear. Please don’t think you have to take responsibility for this. It’s no one’s fault.”

 

He wished he could believe her, but the guilt still felt like a weight in his chest. Then he forgot how to breathe for a second when he saw a doctor approaching them. He could practically feel the tension that the row of them were all feeling in unison.

 

The doctor began speaking unprompted, speaking in a kind, gentle voice. The waiting room that they were in was surprisingly unfilled (not to mention the group of them were sitting in a corner, away from the other people), so the doctor was able to pull a chair aside and sit in front of them as she spoke. “Marcia is stable for the time being and I truly wish that I could tell you more good news than that, but at the moment, we still don’t know her condition. Since your family member is a hunter, I assume you have some knowledge about vampires, so you probably know a bit about the Turning process. Vampires appear almost perfectly human so it can be difficult to determine their identity purely based on appearance. And the actual tests used to determine this aren’t always effective on newly Turned vampires.

 

“Her teeth seem normal, which is a good sign, but that's not something that can be used to concretely assure us. Unless we find indication that she _has_ been Turned, we will treat her under the hopes that she is still human, but, most likely, we won’t know until she wakes up. Newly Turned vampires are incredibly feral and will attack and eat anything they can get their hands on. While your average vampire may be able to disguise their true nature and act ‘human’, Newly Turned vampires cannot. So when she wakes up, we will know immediately.”

 

She paused, sighing softly. “Unfortunately, due to the dangerous nature of the Newly Turned beasts, it’s better that we move into action as soon as we are able to confirm one hundred percent that it is a vampire. So, though we understand that this is a hard thing to do, we ask that you sign a form for legal reasons. It states that you understand the situation. You will have your relative in there, so there’s no need to worry about any mistake. And we will dispose of the vampire using special toxins from the Garrison that function as a poison for vampires so that your daughter’s body isn’t harmed in the process.”

 

“But Marcy will be…!” Elle choked out.

 

The doctor looked at her with kind sympathy. “I understand that this is an incredibly difficult thing to accept, but if she was Turned then it’s no longer your daughter. We wouldn’t dream of hurting her if there was a chance she was human, but if we confirm that she’s been Turned then that means that she has already left us. Vampires are monsters that inhabit human bodies. I truly hope that this all ends up being mere precaution, but unfortunately, at this point, I can’t say one way or the other. We need to be prepared for this possibility. I’m truly sorry.”

 

The doctor handed the document on a clipboard to Lance’s mother and left. Elle leaned forward and cried into her hands while Gabriel had his hand to his face, trying to hide his own tears.

 

Lance’s mother was trying to comfort them, but Keith could tell that she was also struggling –that she was being strong for their sake, but the news was breaking her as well. Minutes passed and Keith was left internally debating his decision.

 

Then finally, he stood up and stood in front of the two young parents. He pulled down his facemask with a trembling hand. “I…” he started, “I know that you don’t like me… that you probably don’t even want to look at me right now, but… I just… if you’ll just hear me out this once. That’s all I’m asking.” He paused, taking a deep breath. “Please don’t sign that form. Just… don’t sign it.”

 

This got their attention. Elle raised her head and looked up at him. Gabriel looked angry and distrusting, but still looked at him nonetheless.

 

He continued. “I know that the doctor said all of that, but it’s not true -not… not all of it. Most of it wasn’t true. It was all… well, based on human’s limited knowledge of vampires, but I’ve been there –I _AM_ there- I…” he stumbled on his words, “What I mean is, I know first-hand what it’s like to Turn and what it’s like to be a vampire. And one part of what she said is true: Newborn, er, Newly Turned vampires have a hard time adjusting. Everything is all fuzzy and disorienting and everything _hurts._ You can’t think straight and you can’t really think of anything other than eating because that’s what you need so badly. But once you get through that first stage, things clear up. You don’t change from who you used to be just because you were Turned. You’re still the same person inside. Your body just changes and you have a hunger that you can’t help but to feel and it’s... frankly, it’s shitty, but it doesn’t make you a monster.

 

“If Marcia Turns, then she’ll be in a lot of pain and really desperate for blood for a little while, and that’ll probably be hard for you to watch, but once she gets past that… then she’s herself again. She’s still your daughter.” He hesitated a moment before continuing. “My situation was a bit complicated, but when I was free and myself again, all I wanted was someone to accept me and tell me that I was going to be okay. Even if I knew that I was gonna be killed by someone else after, I didn’t care. I just wanted to know that someone cared; that someone still loved me and saw me as a person. That’s all I wanted. And I may not have gotten it at the time, but, if I can, I want to make sure that Marcy does.”

 

All four sets of eyes were staring at him, unsure of what to say. Lance’s mother was looking at him with a sad smile and Elle was looking at him with an expression he was unable to discern.

 

When the silence continued, he nervously added, “I don’t know exactly how we’ll make it work, but we’ll just take things a step at a time. I have a, uh, sort of pardoning from the Garrison…” he began to explain, his hand ghosting over the edge of the band around his neck, “I get food rations from them and I’m not allowed to hunt. If they find out that I hunted, then I’ll be… well, I’ll be executed… But I could try to be careful and hunt anyway, so that Marcia can have my rations. Or at least go out with her to help her and teach her how to hunt safely and without hurting people… There are options that we can figure out.”

 

Silence followed until Elle spoke up and surprised him. “You would do that for her? You would risk that for our little girl?”

 

Keith answered honestly, “Of course I would.”

 

-

-

 

The sewage reeked, but, since it was below ground, it was nice and cool –not to mention free of sunlight. It had been months since he was Turned and he thought he was beginning to get used to what he had to do to survive, but then came summer which was a whole new struggle. He liked to stay underground or at least inside during the day anyway, but now it wasn’t even a question; the summer heat was like a death sentence. Even the summer nights were often unpleasant. He never thought he’d miss winter so much.

 

He had been underground for a while and he wasn’t even sure how much time had passed. The last time he was up on ground level, he had his second encounter with a hunter. And this time was even closer than the first –he thinks that it was the heat that was making him sloppy. Needless to say, it was scary and a close call. He probably wouldn’t still be alive if he weren’t able to lose the guy in a crowd for some outdoor event. But now, not only was he dreading the heat, but he was honestly scared to go back up. He was barely even able to sleep since it happened.

 

He curled back into a ball, sighing. He liked to go to the library when he could, but now he was really wishing that he could get a library card so he could bring the books down here to read. He knew that he should probably be moving soon because he was hungry, but he couldn’t bring himself to get up. Instead, he just curled up further and eventually drifted off into a light sleep.

 

What woke him up was pain. The pain echoed through his body and made him feel dizzy. He couldn’t think straight; everything seemed so foggy. But he knew that he was hungry, so he got himself up and made his way down the tunnel and eventually back above ground.

 

It was hot –dreadfully hot. The sun was thankfully setting, but everything was still so hot. Not to mention, he was tired and dizzy and hungry and _so hungry_.

 

After that, things just became blurrier –he doesn’t remember what happened.

 

When he came to, it was a slow regaining of consciousness. The first thing that he realized was that he felt better. He blinked his eyes open, unsure of when he had closed them, but once he saw the sight in front of him, they flew open wide in panic.

 

There was a man in front of him slumped against the wall of some alleyway. His head was leaning to the side and his neck was covered in blood. The vampire looked down at his hands only to see them covered in blood as well. He didn’t usually make a mess when he fed, but he had this time. He could feel the blood sticking to his face and dripping off of his chin. His hands shook and his heart raced as he scrambled closer to the man and checked to see if he was still alive. The pulse was slow but miraculously still there -although there were no guarantees that it would stay that way.

 

Determined, he grabbed the man under his arms and pulled him down the alley towards the sidewalk. It wasn’t crowded where he was, but there was at least a small steady flow of people walking by. He reached the mouth of the alleyway and immediately there was screaming. People screamed and stared at him in horror as he placed the man against the wall.

 

“P-please help him…”

 

And then he ran. He could tell that a few people were chasing after him and heard shouting behind him –people shouting at bystanders to stop him, but he just kept running. Eventually he was able to lose them and slowed down to catch his breath as he made his way back down into the sewer. Then he found a spot to sit and curled back up into a ball –exhausted, but unable to sleep once more.

 

-

-

 

When the doctor returned to collect the form, she sighed when they hadn’t signed it. Marcia’s parents told her that they were choosing not to and that they wanted to take her back home with them. The doctor frowned and began to go through her explanation once more, but Marcia’s parents didn’t budge. They explained that Lance was experienced and would be able to keep her under control. They would also take precaution and keep her restrained. The doctor explained that it was illegal to keep a vampire, but they claimed that they just wanted to be able to let her die in a familiar environment. With another deep sigh, the doctor said that she would discuss it with the hospital staff and left.

 

A little while later, before the doctor could come back with an answer, a nurse came out into the waiting room and approached the family with a genuine, relieved smile. “Your daughter is awake.”

 

Elle burst into tears and Gabriel also began to cry, hugging Elle close. Lance’s parents were getting misty and looked at each other with thankful smiles. Keith smiled as well and finally felt the weight in his chest lighten, knowing that she was going to be all right.

 

The nurse explained that she was only going to take the parents back at this time, but depending on her condition, she may be able to come back soon and bring in the rest of them. Gabriel and Elle followed the nurse, still wiping tears as they left. Elle briefly turned her head and met Keith’s eyes with a soft, unreadable expression, but kept walking.

 

Afterwards, Lance’s father moved to sit beside his wife and the two locked hands briefly before Lance’s father smiled and slowly got up. “I’m going to get us some coffee.”

 

Once he left, Lance’s mother surprised Keith by wrapping her arm around him. “Thank you,” she smiled, “For what you did earlier and for being so willing to risk your own life for my granddaughter’s. I can’t tell you how much that means -to all of us.”

 

Keith smiled softly, “Of course. I wanted to save her from having to live like I did if I could.”

 

“You know, when Lance first told me that he was dating a vampire, I was, well, shocked, for one,” she laughed. “And I was also worried. I trust my son’s judgment, but sometimes I worry that he’s too kind –to the point where his judgment could be clouded by his feelings. But from the way he talked about you, I had a good feeling that you were someone who deserved his trust and then someone who deserved mine by extension. And after today, I really see how true that is.” She gave his shoulder a small squeeze. “Lance chose well.”

 

When Lance’s father returned, he carried a small cardboard cup tray with two cups of coffee and a third, clear cup behind them. He handed one of the cups to his wife and then he handed the clear cup to Keith. It was just a plastic cup filled with cold water, but –to Keith- the gesture went beyond that.

 

“Thank you,” the vampire said with a small smile. The man only nodded in reply, but his expression was no longer cold. It was more improvement than Keith could even have hoped for earlier in the evening.

 

As time continued to pass, Keith began to feel more unwell. He finished his water and had his facemask on again, but he still felt nauseous. Not to mention, the smell of blood was a constant that only intensified when a stretcher was rushed by carrying a patient with a gushing wound. Keith sighed, trying to just breathe and keep his mind on other things, but he figured that it must have been noticeable that he was struggling because Lance’s mother leaned over and looked at him with concern.

 

“Are you all right? Do you want me to take you home?” she asked, kindly. Keith didn’t have the strength to answer her at the moment, he currently felt like he was going to throw up again if he opened his mouth.

 

“What’s the matter?” Lance’s father asked his wife.

 

“I’m not sure,” she answered, her tone filled with worry. “He doesn’t look well though.”

 

“You don’t think he needs blood, do you?” Lance’s father asked with unease.

 

“I don’t know…” She paused. “Keith, is there something we can get for you? What’s wrong?”

 

Keith just shook his head slowly. “I’ll be okay… I think I just need to lie down… for a minute.”

 

Lance’s parents exchanged looks and then Lance’s mother sprung up from her chair and carefully began to help the vampire up. “I’m going to get you home, okay? I’ll call a taxi and we’ll be back in less than fifteen minutes. Is that okay? Do you want to do that?”

 

Keith found himself nodding.

 

Lance’s mother held onto him to help him balance as they stood outside waiting for a cab. Truthfully, just being outside in the cool air was helping a bit. They eventually got a cab and were back to Lance’s parents’ house before he knew it. She helped him inside and guided him to the couch. He melted into the soft cushions and even more so when, a few minutes later, he felt a cold washcloth on his forehead. He wished that he could just lie there and sleep, but the threat of vomiting still loomed over him so he tried to keep himself awake.

 

“Are you hungry? Is that what’s wrong?” she asked. “Is there anything that you can eat other than blood?”

 

Keith shook his head, but it was mostly just to the last question. He _was_ hungry and eating actually might really help right about now, but that wasn’t exactly an option. And right now, his most immediate concern was whether or not he was going to throw up.

 

“I feel sick…” was all he could say. Then everything went black.

 

-

 

He woke up in a hospital bed, but he couldn’t remember getting there. The last thing he remembered was being at Lance’s house with his mother. Plus, regardless, a hospital was not where he wanted to be. Whatever the problem was, he would heal soon on his own. However, when he tried to get up he quickly discovered that he could hardly move. Tight restraints on his wrists and ankles were keeping him trapped in place.

 

He felt the oxygen rushing from the room as panic set in. He tried with all of his might to break free of the restraints but it wasn’t enough. Then he noticed Lance outside the room’s window. He tried calling for him, shouting his name as loud as he could, but the hunter didn’t even turn in his direction. A doctor was talking to Lance and Keith couldn’t tell what he was saying, but whatever it was, it was bad news that broke Lance’s heart. He could see the unshed tears in the other’s eyes as the hunter nodded and accepted a clipboard from the doctor. Lance signed it and then nodded again before he sat down, looking defeated.

 

Keith began to hyperventilate when it hit him where he had seen a clipboard like that before. He struggled again in the restraints, trying whatever he could to get free. He kept desperately calling out to Lance in choked sobs, begging him to help him. But Lance didn’t look up; he didn’t hear him.

 

The vampire didn’t even notice the door opening, but suddenly there was a nurse beside him, switching the contents of his IV. His eyes widened in fear as he pleaded, “P-please..! Please stop- please listen to me! I-I’m not hurting anyone… I swear, I’m trying not to! Please! P-please let me go to talk with Lance! He’s right out there..! He’s right there… he’s…!”

 

But she didn’t regard him; she didn’t even flinch. She finished setting up the IV and casually checked her watch. Keith watched in horror as a dark fluid flowed through the tube and down to where the needle poked into his skin. He squeezed his eyes shut, not bothering to hold back his tears. Then he slowly opened them to look out the window again towards Lance, but doing so only made him cry harder. He at least wanted to say good-bye –why couldn’t they give him that much?

 

Then his body began to feel hot and his breathing was becoming more and more labored. He wasn’t sure if that was because of the poison or just his panicking. He squeezed his eyes shut again, trying to remember how to breathe when suddenly he felt hands on him –gentle hands.

 

He opened his eyes with a panicked start and found himself lying on a bathroom floor. Bewildered, he looked up to see that the hands belonged to a concerned Hunk and behind him stood Lance’s mother, also looking worried, with a phone clutched in her hand. Keith could feel that he was covered in sweat and that he had been crying.

 

“How soon do you think he’ll be able to get here?” Hunk asked. It took Keith a second to realize he was talking to Lance’s mother and not to him.

 

“He’s on his way now and it’s not too far. Maybe ten minutes,” she said.

 

Then Hunk began gently rubbing the vampire’s back. “Hey, it’s okay. You’re okay. Do you want to try to sit up?”

 

Keith couldn’t find his voice so instead he just nodded. Hunk carefully helped him up into a seated position and then kept his hands on him for support.

 

“Don’t worry,” Hunk began, “Lance is on his way over from the hospital. He’ll be here soon. How are you feeling?”

 

Keith furrowed his brow; he was having trouble catching up. He wasn’t sure what had happened. Then he felt a bad feeling that he recognized and he quickly stumbled a couple feet forward to lean over the toilet and threw up. Shortly after, Hunk began rubbing his back once more.

 

His throat burned but he willed himself to speak, “What are you doing here? …What happened?”

 

Hunk looked at him sympathetically. “Lance’s mom called me back when you guys were leaving the hospital. She said you weren’t looking too good and asked if I could meet you over here and help. What’s the last thing you remember?”

 

Keith pondered, trying to think back. “I was on the couch, I think…”

 

Lance’s mother spoke up this time, “I had him lie down on the couch first and tried to cool him down. Then he said he felt sick so I guided him to the bathroom. He ended up throwing up and, afterwards, I helped him onto the floor to lie down again.”

 

“Do you remember any of that?” Hunk asked.

 

Keith just shook his head.

 

“Lance’s mom let me in and we talked about what was going on just for a couple minutes before coming in to check on you. But when we did, you looked like you were having panic attack. Or a bad nightmare. A nightmare-induced panic attack..?”

 

Keith just lowered his gaze to the floor, feeling ashamed.

 

“Hey man, it’s all right though. It’s not something you should feel ashamed for or anything,” Hunk reassured him. “And you’re sitting up and talking with us, so that’s a good improvement. Is there something we can get for you that might help?”

 

The vampire frowned. “Food, but that’s all the way back at the apartment…”

 

Hunk paused in thought before saying, “If you really need it then I-”

 

Keith shook his head before Hunk even finished speaking. “I appreciate the offer, I really do, but I’m not going to feed from you. That’s too much…”

 

“No, it’s really all right! I’m offering,” Hunk insisted. “I want to help you if I can, you know?”

 

“No, it’s too much. Plus, I… I don’t want you guys to think I’m just using you…” Keith began speaking, his expression pained.

 

“ _That’s_ what you’re worried about?” Hunk said with wide eyes. “Why on earth would we think that? We’re friends, remember? Friends help each other.”

 

“But-”

 

“Not only that, but the reason that you are in this situation where you can’t feed as much as you need to is, technically, because of me. Don’t think I’ve forgotten.”

 

“No, Hunk, that’s not your fault. I-”

 

“You saved my life. Isn’t this the least I can do?”

 

Keith just looked at him, shocked by his kind words. He still felt hesitant; still felt that taking blood from someone was asking too much. Not to mention, it wasn’t exactly a normal thing that friends did for each other. But here Hunk was, offering with a smile. And back when he was injured, Shiro had offered with a sad but caring smile. And Lance always offered with that warm smile of his.

 

“Okay,” he finally said. “Thank you, Hunk.”

 

Hunk moved so that he was leaning against the wall and then extended his arm out, gesturing for Keith to take it when he was ready. The vampire swallowed nervously and insisted on rinsing out his mouth with water a few times (trying to get rid of any traces of vomit) before finally making his way over to Hunk and sitting in front of him. He could feel Lance’s mother watching him and, though he knew she had no bad intentions, it still made him a bit more nervous. Regardless though, he took a deep breath and carefully accepted Hunk’s arm, biting into the skin as gently as he could. He felt guilty when he felt the other tense, but he pushed himself to keep going rather than to have to bite a second time.

 

As guilty as he felt about feeding from his friend, he couldn’t deny that having blood was helping him feel better. And, as always, it tasted amazing. He was so distracted by that, in fact, that he didn’t hear the knock at the door nor did he notice Lance’s mother leave the room and return shortly after with Lance.

 

“Thank you again, Hunk,” he finally said, after pulling his fangs out and licking up the remnants of blood around the punctures.

 

Hunk ruffled the other boy’s hair good-naturedly. “No prob, man!”

 

Keith began to get up to go get something for Hunk to drink when he noticed the added person in the room. “Lance!” he exclaimed, surprised.

 

“The one and only,” Lance teased. “Looks like I worried for nothing, huh?”

 

“I’m sorry I made you leave early…”

 

“What? No, it’s okay! I was honestly going to head out soon anyway. Marcy is recovering really well and Gabe, Elle and Dad are in with her now. _And_ I honestly wanted to check in with you even before Mom called me. I hadn’t seen you since we got to the hospital and I wanted to make sure you were doing okay. How are you feeling now?”

 

“A lot better than before. The blood is definitely helping,” Keith said.

 

“I’m glad,” Lance smiled wide and Keith noticed that Hunk and Lance’s mother did the same. “When Mom called, I was… I was really worried. But thankfully my mom also called The Greatest Best Friend in the World.” He winked at Hunk, causing the other hunter to roll his eyes and laugh.

 

They brought Hunk a sugary drink to have while Keith cleaned up and bandaged the bite. While he did so, Lance told everyone about Marcia’s condition and about how soon she will be able to be discharged.

 

A few hours later, Lance’s mother left to go back to the hospital to see Marcy and Hunk had gone to bed, sleeping in Lance’s old bedroom. Lance and Keith stayed out in the living room on the couch. Keith lied down with his head rested in Lance’s lap. Lance was playing with the other boy’s hair idly.

 

“Thank you, by the way,” Lance said suddenly, his voice soft in the quiet room. “For what you did back there. If you didn’t do that, Marcy almost would have definitely…” He trailed off.

 

“I’m glad she’s okay,” Keith said, his eyes still peacefully closed.

 

“Me too,” Lance’s smile evident in his voice. “I’m sorry that it ended up hurting you a lot though. I wasn’t expecting that.”

 

Keith spoke softly as well, “It’s okay. A small price honestly.”

 

“Still though, thank you,” Lance said again.

 

Keith hummed with a smile in place. A couple minutes passed until the hunter spoke again.

 

“So whose blood tastes better? Mine or Hunk’s?” Lance asked cheekily.

 

Keith just groaned, “I’m not answering that.”

 

“Aw, no! That’s gotta mean that Hunk’s was better!” Lance exclaimed melodramatically. “You know, as your boyfriend, I’m feeling very betrayed right now.”

 

“Will you stop?” Keith groaned again. He reached up to playfully flick the hunter on the forehead.

 

“I’ll stop if you give me a kiss,” Lance grinned.

 

“I’m not giving you a kiss when I just fed from Hunk a few hours ago! I’ll probably get his blood in your mouth and it’ll be weird,” Keith huffed. “Not to mention, unhealthy for you.”

 

“Aw, come on,” Lance whined playfully. “That was _hours_ ago. Just one kiss. I’ll even settle for a kiss on the cheek. Or on the forehead that you just smacked.”

 

“It was a tiny _flick_!” But when Keith opened his eyes, he opened them to Lance’s big, goofy smile and he knew he was lost. He sighed and slowly sat up, but then surprised the hunter by getting up and walking away.

 

“Hey! Where are you going?” he pouted.

 

“To clean my mouth. Do you want your damn kiss or not?” Keith said. Lance’s pout transformed into a triumphant grin in the blink of an eye. When he got back, he sat back down on the couch beside Lance. “Okay, close your eyes.”

 

“Close my eyes?” Lance parroted, confused. “This isn’t our first kiss. Why do you need me to close my eyes?”

 

“Just close them.”

 

“Fine, fine,” he said, quickly doing as he was told.

 

Keith smiled deviously before crawling on top of the other’s lap. Lance’s eyes opened up immediately as his face turned red.

 

“K-Keith!? What are you doing?” he said, both surprised and flustered.

 

The vampire just smirked, stating matter-of-factly, “You said you wanted a kiss.” Then he cupped the boy’s face in his hands and pulled him into a loving kiss. Lance melted into it immediately, quickly opening his mouth and moving his tongue into the other’s mouth. Keith broke the kiss briefly to say, “Watch the fangs.”

 

Lance laughed between his heavy breaths, “Isn’t that _my_ line?”

 

Keith smiled and just pressed their lips together once more.

 

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm excited to have been able to do a chapter solely through Keith's POV. I hope you all enjoyed it! 
> 
> And, like I posted above, I want to thank you all for your continued support! I've been writing different things for years, but this is officially the longest word count I've had for a single writing piece. :D
> 
> Here's the little [drawing](https://twitter.com/kurisu_kuma/status/881320271126441984) from my twitter. 
> 
>    
> Twitter: [@kurisu_kuma](https://twitter.com/kurisu_kuma).


	18. Choosing to Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Keith get a surprise visit and summer arrives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO  
> I didn't abandon this story, I promise! ;w; I'm sorry though for the super long wait. It's crazy that it's been over 6 months since I posted a chapter. Life has been crazy and I had bad writer's block for a long time and was especially nervous to post this chapter -simply because I didn't want to disappoint after such a long wait. But I'm back! AND I'm going to try my best to post monthly chapters once again. :) 
> 
> Thank you so much to all of you who have been following my story and have been so extremely patient! I hope you enjoy this chapter and those to come! Thank you for sticking with me! <3

-

Keith was in bed when he heard the knock on the door. For a second, his chest felt tight with panic as the memory of the Garrison breaking into their apartment re-submerged, but he quickly took a deep breath and reminded himself that this was the sound of a normal knock. He looked over at Lance, still asleep with his arm extended out where it was previously draped over the vampire. Since the knock apparently hadn’t woke the hunter up, Keith decided to just let him sleep and carefully left the bed to check the door himself. 

He braced himself for the inevitable sunlight that came along with the early afternoon. What he wasn’t prepared for, however, was the pair that he found at the door. 

He opened the door to Lance’s brother and Elle –both of them suddenly looking a bit nervous as it was revealed that the one answering the door wasn’t Lance. Keith wasn’t really sure what sparked the surprise visit, but he figured that they probably didn’t want to talk to him. 

“I, uh…” he started awkwardly. “I’ll go get Lance. You can come in, er, if you want.” 

They nodded and made their way inside. Keith went ahead and began walking down the hall to wake the hunter. As he walked, he couldn’t help but to overhear their whispering to each other. 

“Would being invited inside by a vampire be considered irony?” Gabriel whispered, a slight snicker in his voice. 

Elle shushed him, “That’s just an old wives’ tale.” Then a pause. “It is just an old wives’ tale, right?”

Keith resisted snorting in amusement and just pretended not to hear as he went inside the bedroom and quietly closed the door behind him. Lance was still asleep, tired from his patrol the previous night. The vampire sat back onto the bed and leaned over to kiss the sleeping hunter’s lips. Lance kept his eyes closed, but a smile grew on his face. 

“Is this my new alarm clock? Because if so, I am definitely on board with the upgrade,” he said. Keith rolled his eyes with a smile. 

“I’m waking you up because your family came by. They’re waiting for you out in the living room.”

This got his attention. Lance sat up and began to rub the sleep from his eyes, “Huh? Why is my family here? Who is it? My mom?”

“Uh, no. It’s your brother actually. And your sister-in-law.”

Suddenly he looked worried, “You don’t think something happened with Marcy, do you? Just yesterday I was told she was doing well and getting ready to go to school again.”

“I mean, they don’t seem upset at all, but I don’t know. They didn’t really say anything.”

“Okay, I’ll go talk to them. You can come out with me or stay here, it’s up to you,” Lance said as he quickly pulled on some pants. Since the weather was warming up, he had started sleeping in just a T-shirt and his boxers.

Despite the idea making him a bit uncomfortable, Keith decided to follow Lance out to meet with them. At least they didn’t seem hostile towards him anymore. Just awkward and uneasy, but he supposed he could deal with that.

When they left the bedroom, Keith immediately noticed the brightness of the living room down the hall. He didn’t need to be directly assaulted by the sunlight to tell that they had pulled the curtains open. He grimaced and stopped walking, debating staying in the bedroom after all. It was too early in the day to deal with this. Lance just gave him a gentle hand on his shoulder along with a quiet, “I got it, don’t worry.”

The hunter went out into the living room and greeted the couple with a smile. “Hey Gabe, hey Elle! Sorry, but can you keep the curtains closed? They’re there to keep the sunlight out.” 

“O-Oh. They’re for… Oh, I’m sorry,” Elle said sheepishly as she got back up to close the curtains. 

“Thanks, Elle,” Lance said. 

It had been about a week since the attack and, from Lance’s frequent phone calls, they knew that Marcy, thankfully, was doing fine. So, this visit seemed a bit out of the blue. But the couple didn’t keep the two boys wondering for long. 

“We came to apologize,” Gabriel said. He looked at Lance earnestly and then his eyes briefly flicked to Keith as well before falling down to his lap. “To both of you.”

Elle picked up where Gabriel paused. “You saved our daughter’s life. I can’t even bring myself to think about the possibility of what could have been if you two hadn’t come. How we treated you was… unfair. We didn’t give you a chance and yet you didn’t hesitate to help us. So, we want to thank you and apologize for how we treated you before.”

Lance smiled, “Of course we’d come to the rescue!” Then his voice softened. “And I appreciate you guys coming here to apologize. It means a lot. I definitely did not want us to have to be awkward with each other for long.” 

Gabriel laughed, “Too late for that –you’re always awkward.”

Lance huffed, “UM, okay, for the record, I’m not awkward. I’ve always been suave.”

“Really?” Gabriel added, “Should I tell everyone the story of your junior prom?”

Lance’s face noticeably heated up and he stammered a bit as he tried to come up with a retort, “Dammit, Gabe! That was years ago! Plus, I told you that in confidence!” 

Elle snickered, “Don’t worry, I’ll get it out of him later.” 

Lance huffed again. “Why must you two tag-team against me?”

Keith couldn’t help but to laugh a bit as well. 

The four of them sat casually in the living room and just talked. They talked about how Marcy was doing and how she was looking forward to going back to school because there was only a little over a month left in the school year anyway. Elle ended up asking about how Keith was doing as well. 

“Are you all recovered from what happened?” she asked. 

Keith gave her a small smile, “Yeah, I’m fine. I was just a bit sick from the vampire blood, that’s all.” 

“So that’s why vampires can’t just go after each other? They literally can’t?” Gabriel asked.

The vampire just nodded, “Yeah. The blood, unfortunately, has to be human…”

“But you said the Garrison feeds you, right? So, they collect human blood?” he asked, looking a bit uncomfortable. Lance couldn’t deny that he’s also had thoughts wondering about where the Garrison got their blood supply. 

“I guess. I don’t really know where they get it, I just eat it,” Keith shrugged. 

“Can I see it?” Gabriel asked, looking a bit too excited about asking to see a container of blood. Elle elbowed her husband, but her expression gave the vibe that she secretly wanted to see as well. 

Lance raised an eyebrow and grinned at their display, “It’s just a bottle of blood, guys. I don’t know what you are expecting, but it’s nothing spectacular. It’s just something we throw in the fridge.” 

“Can we see it though?” Gabriel asked again. Lance looked at Keith who just shrugged.

“I guess...?” Keith said before getting up and going into the kitchen to retrieve it. He came back and handed one of the small bottles to Lance’s brother, but not without first saying, “Just don’t open it.”

Gabriel nodded and examined it with curiosity as if he’d never seen a plastic bottle before. Elle looked over as well and then accepted it when Gabriel handed it to her to see as well. 

Keith felt a bit uncomfortable, not understanding why this was so fascinating to them. But he supposed he’d prefer them being fascinated by his food than being repulsed by it. 

“It’s just…” Gabriel finally began, “… surreal. Like, this is some person’s blood just sitting in a bottle waiting for you to drink it for dinner. That’s so surreal to me.” 

Keith didn’t know what to say so he just stayed quiet. Then Gabriel suddenly looked up at him with an intense look.

“Can I see your fangs?” he asked.

“Gabe!” Lance interjected, then turned to the boy beside him. “Keith, you don’t have to amuse him if you don’t want to.”

Keith looked between Lance and Gabriel and then just sighed, “It’s okay.” Then he opened his mouth so the man could look inside. He tried to keep his mouth open wide enough, though it felt a bit awkward to do. He felt like he was pretending to be at the dentist.

Gabriel moved closer and peered inside Keith’s mouth, gently putting his fingers on the other’s chin to turn his head as he looked. “Surreal,” was all he said this time.

Keith’s cheeks were tinted a bit as he felt embarrassed, not just the amount of attention he was getting, but specifically for his “vampire traits” being put in the spotlight all of a sudden. Them being repulsed would be worse, but at least expected. He wasn’t quite sure how to handle this new interest and curiosity that the two seemed to have now that they’ve gotten past their distrust of him. 

“You wouldn’t think I’d still be surprised after everything that had happened with Marcy, but I guess it’s just hitting me now how real this is. My little brother is actually dating an actual vampire! And that actual vampire is sitting right across from me wearing sweatpants like it’s the most normal thing in the world.”

Lance smiled, beyond happy for his brother’s change of heart. “Well, yeah, I mean Keith’s just a person at the end of the day. He groans when the sun comes up and doesn’t appreciate my amazing cooking skills –just like everyone else.”

Keith rolled his eyes, but couldn’t keep himself from smiling. “You’re ridiculous.”

-

Keith laid on the couch. He was lying on his stomach with his head sitting on top of his crossed arms. And he was currently glaring at the small rays of sunlight coming in through the thin space between the curtains. It was past seven in the evening, but the sun was still up. 

Keith hated the summer months.

And for good reason. Summer meant heat, bright sunlight and longer days. A perfect recipe for a vampire to dislike it.

“Staring at the window isn’t going to make the sun set any faster, you know,” Lance teased. Keith just sighed and buried his face behind his arms.

He pulled his head back up, however, at the sound of curtains being pulled. The hunter was pulling the curtains to cover the small space, effectively eliminating the rays of sunlight leaking inside the room.

“It’s not even officially summer yet and I’m already counting down the days until Fall,” Keith said.

Lance smiled, but there was definitely a sympathetic look on his face as well. “We’ll just have to do our best to enjoy summer anyway. Or, well, at least make it bearable for you.” 

Keith appreciated the effort, but he was still dreading the later summer months when the heat worsened. He tried not to be too much of a bummer though because he knew how much Lance loved summer. He may not be able to go out and enjoy it with him, but he wanted the hunter to enjoy the warm weather to his heart’s content. 

Which is why a few weeks later when Lance mentioned going on vacation to the beach, Keith didn’t immediately decline the invitation.

However, he was still torn. On one hand, he really wanted to be able to spend time with everyone and get to go on vacation with Lance. He knew the hunter would love for him to be there with him and he always wanted to make Lance happy. But on the other hand, the summer heat of the city was brutal enough. The beach would be ruthless. 

If he went, he definitely wouldn’t be going out during the day. That was an outright ‘no’ from him. But even being inside during the day and outside at night –he wasn’t sure how tolerable it would be. 

“I asked my uncle for the floorplan, just to check,” Lance said, continuing his reassurance that he had thought this through. “The master bedroom has two windows and then a third one in the attached bathroom. I calculated the approximate size of each window and the curtains we have in the living room should cover the bedroom windows –half for each window- and then our new curtain from our bedroom should work for the bathroom window. We’ll keep the air conditioning on, of course, and we can bring a portable fan to keep you extra cool. See? I’ve thoroughly planned this out to make sure it’d work! All that’s left is the okay from you that you are on board with the idea. You know, ‘cause obviously I’m not going to force you to come on vacation with us.”

Keith hummed in thought. He had to admit that Lance really had made sure everything would work out and he’d be comfortable despite the fact that it was at a beach. And as long as the air was turned up and the fan was on, the beach house probably wouldn’t be too much different from being in the apartment. 

The vampire took a deep breath before finally saying, “All right, I’m in.” And as soon as those words were said, a spark of excitement bloomed inside of him.

“All right!” Lance cheered. “The gang’s gonna be all together!”

-

A week later, they split into two cars as they began the drive. Allura drove with Shiro, Lance and Keith while Matt drove with Hunk and Pidge. It was a five-hour drive down to the coast.

Keith watched the passing cars and the night sky from his window. He couldn’t help zoning out a bit. He couldn’t remember the last time he rode in a car, or any vehicle, for longer than a half hour or so. A little over two hours in, however, his thoughts were interrupted by some slight queasiness. He tried to ignore it, but Lance was as perceptive as always.

“You all right?” the hunter asked. Not a beat later, Shiro turned around with a look of concern. 

“I’m fine,” Keith brushed off. “Just a bit queasy. Probably just slight car sickness or whatever.”

“Did you get car sick as a kid?” Allura asked, her eyes still focused on the road in front of her. 

“I don’t remember…” the vampire admitted. “It’s really nothing though. I’m not about to vomit or anything.” 

“Still, it wouldn’t hurt to take a quick break. We were planning on stopping for food around now anyway, right?” Lance asked.

“Yeah, we can stop to eat. We’ll reach a town in about fifteen minutes or so,” Allura said. 

“Sounds good,” Shiro smiled.

“Do you want to eat now?” Lance asked, turning back to face Keith. “Your food’s in the cooler. We can pull over and take it out real quick, it’ll only take a second.”

“No, it’s okay,” Keith said, “I’ll just wait until we all eat. I’m not in a rush.” 

When they arrived at a local diner, there was a group of people chatting by their cars in the parking lot so Keith decided to wait to eat. He knew they wouldn’t be able to tell what he was drinking, but he would just rather not feel uneasy. They all entered the diner and were seated immediately. It was late so the dinner rush was gone. 

Lance nudged Hunk as they laughed about an inside joke that an item on the menu reminded him of, Allura, Shiro and Pidge pondered their orders and Matt was looking at his menu as well, but kept making quick, curious glances at Keith while doing so. 

The vampire sighed and just pretended to look through the menu too, just to give himself something to do. He had a feeling that Pidge’s brother was probably going to be a bit awkward with him and it seemed he was right to expect that. Pidge had seen Matt since they had accepted Keith into their group and they had explained all about him and everything, but Keith had never met Matt himself. According to Pidge, Matt was a bit uncertain and a bit uneasy, but he didn’t outright reject him. Keith supposed that was something to be thankful for. Still, it was a bit awkward when Matt was visibly nervous around him and would keep staring, but never actually say a word to him. 

The waitress took their orders and brought their drinks. Keith just got a water and spun the straw around in his glass idly as he felt Matt glancing at him yet again. Determined to not let it bother him, he just drank his water and pretended that he didn’t notice. 

“You good?” Lance suddenly asked, his voice quiet so as not to attract anyone else’s attention. 

“Yeah, I’m good. What did you end up ordering again?” Keith asked.

Lance smiled, “The chocolate chip pancake stack. I’ve been craving some good ol’ pancakes for a while now.”

Keith found himself smiling too. “Sounds good. I mean, as far as I can tell at least.”

Lance laughed. “Yeah, I’m counting on it. How are you on food? Getting hungry?”

“It’s not too bad yet. I can make it through dinner without any trouble,” Keith shrugged. 

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

Lance smiled and linked their fingers from where their hands sat between them in the booth. Keith rubbed his thumb gently against Lance’s own. 

Then their food came out and everyone dug in. 

After dinner, they were all talking and laughing as they made their way to their cars. Shiro went ahead and pulled open the trunk to grab the cooler. He handed one of the bottles to Keith before packing the trunk back up. Keith was happy to be able to eat now, but before he could open it, he felt Matt’s eyes on him. Not angry, as far as he could tell, but the stare was intense nonetheless. 

“I, uh,” Keith began, “I’ll eat on the way.” He spoke briefly before going ahead and climbing into Allura’s car. 

“You don’t have to worry about Matt,” Shiro said as soon as they all climbed in and shut the doors. “He’s just kind of figuring out how to digest things. I don’t think he’s scared of you. He wouldn’t have agreed to come with us on this trip if he were.”

Keith just frowned. “It’s just… uncomfortable, the way he keeps staring at me.”

“He’ll get past it,” Shiro assured, “Just give him some time.”

Keith nodded. He hoped that Shiro was right. 

-

They arrived at the beach house and Lance had to resist the urge to hop out of the car and run the rest of the way because he was so excited. He loved the beach, he loved his uncle’s beach house and all of the good memories it held and he loved the fact that this week was going to be spent making new memories with all of his friends. 

It was different arriving at night, but not something he was complaining about. Arriving at the beach house in the early afternoon had its charm –it made it feel like the beginning of a great vacation, the warm sun and crowded beach nearby gave off a fun energy and everything seemed so bright and exciting. Arriving at night was different, but not in a bad way. The nearby beach was empty, but the lack of people magnified the prominence of the sounds. The sound of the waves crashing onto the shore echoed around them and a nearly full moon lit up the sky and reflected beautifully onto the sea beneath it. It was calm and quiet –a different kind of energy to welcome him to the place that would be his home for the week.

He turned around, pulling himself from his thoughts, only to see Keith staring at the ocean as well. Sometimes he could read Keith like a book (and he prided himself on that skill), but other times he had to admit that the other boy’s expressions could be hard to read. His look didn’t seem sad, but at the same time, there was something sad about it. Perhaps it was a look of nostalgia, Lance thought. Or maybe awe. Or maybe something more complex. Keith’s past was a topic that Lance could never learn enough about. However, no matter how many stories he was told, he was sure many of the vampire’s experiences would be things he’d never be able to fully understand.

Keith pulled himself out of his own thoughts before Lance could say anything. He smiled and, like a reflex, Lance smiled too. 

“It’s beautiful,” Keith said, “The ocean.”

Lance’s smile softened, “Yeah, it is, isn’t it?”

-

Inside the house, everybody carried in luggage and worked to get the place settled. More unpacking could be done in the morning, but they tried to at least get the bare essentials taken care of for the time being. 

Lance came in with a backpack and a large beach bag and rolled a suitcase behind him. He beamed as he looked around at the familiar interior and began to direct everyone to let them know where the rooms were. Keith had a backpack as well and carried the cooler and the beach umbrellas. He went to unpack the cooler into the refrigerator (still shaking his head at the fact that they put a handful of sodas and water bottles in with his food supply like it was no big deal) when he noticed Matt and Pidge coming into the kitchen as well. He kept filling the refrigerator unbothered, but Matt wasn’t taking to the same strategy. 

“Is it really okay to keep those in the fridge like that? They’re going to be right next to our food!” Matt whispered to Pidge. 

“It’s fine,” Pidge answered without hesitation, “They’re in sealed bottles. Lance does it all the time at his place.” 

“Is that really safe though?” 

“It’s safe. They’re not about to leak or anything.”

Matt didn’t seem fully convinced. After he and Pidge dropped off the bags of snacks, they left down the hall, but Keith could still hear when Matt whispered his concerns once more. “Is it even safe to have him here with us?”

“Matt,” Pidge said with a sigh, “Okay, actually, you know what? We need to fix this. There’s no way we are spending our whole vacation out here with you two being awkward around each other. Come on.”

“P-Pidge!” Matt began to object. But Keith assumes that either Pidge was pulling their brother back to the kitchen or at least a part of Matt was willing –willing enough to follow them instead of continuing down the hall. 

When the siblings reentered the kitchen, Keith blinked up at them. He wasn’t really sure what to do or what to say. What was he supposed to say? ‘Don’t worry I promise I won’t feed on your blood in your sleep tonight’?

“Keith,” Pidge began. “This is my brother Matt. Matt, this is my friend Keith.” The two boys looked at each other, unsure of where Pidge was going with their reintroduction –the second one in the same day.

After a brief pause, Pidge continued. “Yes, Matt, he’s a vampire. No, he’s not going to hurt any of us. Okay, now I’m going to go unpack a bit, but I better not see either of you go upstairs until you’ve talked through any awkwardness. Now, go mingle …or whatever.”

And true to their word, Pidge left. The room suddenly felt tense. Keith bit his lip, unsure if he should talk first or not. 

Matt beat him to it.

“Look,” he began, “I know that everyone is saying you’re good and they trust you and I really want to too, but I’m just a little nervous because I’ve never actually been around a vampire before. Other than when I was attacked by one. I know I shouldn't hold that against you but it’s just… I don’t know. A process? It’s still kind of weird for me.”

Keith let out a breath, feeling some of the tension leave his body at Matt’s honestly and willingness to try to accept him. 

“I don’t blame you,” the vampire found himself saying, “I know how a lot of vampires are –how probably most of them… us are. Even now, it would be a stretch to say that I’ve had many good encounters with vampires. We don’t exactly tend to get along well. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t good ones out there. I’m sure there are. Lance and everyone say that I am, but…” he paused, “I don’t know how much I believe it. I feel like I’m too flawed to deserve the title of a ‘good vampire’. Though telling you that might be a bit counter-productive since I’m probably supposed to be convincing you that I’m ‘good’ or something..?”

Matt snorted and for the first time, Keith really saw him look at him. 

“Yeah, maybe Pidge should have given us a script to follow. We are kind of sucking at this,” Matt chuckled. 

Keith smiled. 

“I guess I just, no offense, but never really thought of vampires as people, you know? Like, they were just these creatures that prowled the streets at night and hunted for blood. I never even thought about them during the day –as though they only existed at night somehow. It’s just strange having one idea in my head and then next thing I know Pidge is telling me how their ‘vampire friend’ is good at drawing and offers to do the dishes even though he doesn’t eat. Things that are so human. The two visuals just really clashed and it was confusing to think about. And then I realized that it’s confusing because I’m not accepting the fact that maybe my original idea of what all vampires are like was wrong.”

“You were attacked by a vampire though,” Keith offered. “You were almost killed and you lost your father to one. I shouldn’t expect you to instantly be okay with me.”

“But I wasn’t attacked by you. My father wasn’t taken from me by you. I don’t fear all humans when some humans do bad things, so, really, I shouldn’t fear all vampires because some vampires do bad things, right?”

Keith smiled. He was starting to wonder if he misread Matt earlier. Even Matt admitted he was unsure and hesitant, but maybe his mixed feelings were never as harsh as Keith was expecting them to be. 

“I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable,” Matt finally said, breaking the silence. 

Keith blinked at him, “No, I should be saying that to you.”

Matt chuckled. “I was the one who was too nervous to talk to you and probably made you feel bad. The only thing you did was sit there. You don’t have to apologize just for being here.”

“Yeah, but this is new for you. It’s reasonable to-”

“Make someone feel unwelcome?” Matt chuckled again. “I’m serious. You don’t have anything to apologize for. I was just being stupid earlier.” Then he extended a hand out with a wide goofy smile. “Hi, I’m Matt. It’s nice to meet you.”

Keith snorted and then smiled as well. “Keith. Nice to meet you too.”

-

Lance and Hunk were working to get the curtains put up in the master bedroom. Hunk yawned as he handed one of the metal rods to Lance. 

“Tired?” Lance asked, laughing a little. 

“Exhausted,” Hunk admitted. “I really shouldn’t be because, you know, we stay up all night for our jobs. But I think my schedule is just all thrown off. I will definitely sleep well tonight. Are you tired?”

“Not really,” he said, propping the rod back up over the window. “I probably should be, but I think I’m just too excited to be tired.”

Hunk smiled fondly at his friend. “I’m glad everyone could come. Beach vacations with you have always been the highlights of my summers. And I don’t even have to ask if you have a game plan for the week because I know you do.” 

Lance laughed, “Right as always. I left room for improvising and any other changes –naturally. But I have the whole week roughly planned out. I take my vacation planning very seriously, you know.”

“Oh, I know,” Hunk said, rolling his eyes in a teasing manner. 

“Tomorrow, we are starting with the beach. Because how else would you start a vacation to the beach besides going to the beach itself?”

“I can’t even imagine any other way to start,” Hunk said, enjoying his teasing of the other.

When the last of the curtains were up, the two admired their completion of the job before Lance pulled the curtains shut, making sure the whole window was covered. 

“As excited as you are though,” Hunk said, “Make sure to actually get rest, okay? We already have Pidge and Keith as our morning grumps, we don’t need another.”

Lance laughed, “Oh, trust me. I’ll be full of energy tomorrow. Just you wait!”

“I’m counting on it,” Hunk smiled. “Okay. Goodnight, Lance.”

“Night, Hunk,” Lance said as his friend left the room to go to his own room down the hall. The hunter sighed happily as he began to get ready for bed. He was finishing brushing his teeth when Keith came into the room and closed the door behind him.

“Talking with Shiro?” Lance asked. He expected that that must have been where the vampire was. However, he was surprised when the other boy shook his head. 

“No, I was with Matt, actually,” the vampire said.

“Really?” Lance wasn’t expecting that. “How did that go?”

“Good, actually,” Keith said, a soft smile on his face. “We talked for a while and he’s honestly a really nice guy. And I guess I didn’t scare him as much as I was worried I did.”

“Oh no, should I be worried?” Lance said with false concern. 

Keith looked at him puzzled, “Worried about what?”

“That you’ll leave me for Matt.” But the hunter couldn’t even get his sentence out before he broke character and smiled. 

Keith rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t hide his smile either, “Doesn’t he have a boyfriend already?” But then before Lance could reply, Keith’s grin turned sly. “Plus, I wouldn’t because I already have someone I like.”

“Oh yeah? Who’s that?” Lance grinned.

“Oh, you don’t know him,” Keith said, playfully shrugging.

“Hey!” Lance pouted. But the hunter was rewarded with a kiss on the cheek.

“You ready for bed?” Keith asked with a smile.

“Only if you’ll be there too,” Lance grinned.

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for sticking with me and this story through the long hiatus. I hope that you enjoyed the chapter and continue to enjoy the story. This chapter was a bit of a transition chapter before we actually get to read about the beach trip, but I hope it was enjoyable nonetheless!  
>   
> Like I mentioned above, I am going to do my best to post monthly chapters again. I really have a lot of love for this story and I'm so happy to know that so many of you do as well. So I will be doing my best! :)  
>   
> Twitter: [@kurisu_kuma](https://twitter.com/kurisu_kuma).


	19. Night on the Beach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group gets a long overdue (and very deserved) beach vacation; Lance and Keith gross out their friends by being a cute couple.

-

 

Lance woke up to a dark room, but that was the norm for him so he merely leaned over to check the clock. Once he saw it was a reasonable hour (Getting a solid eight hours before the first day of vacation was important, after all!) he leaped out of bed and stretched. Keith was still asleep and the hunter chose to let him sleep in a little longer. He quickly got dressed in the dark and made his way down the stairs to the kitchen level. Shiro was already up and making coffee.

 

“How’d you beat me down here?” Lance joked. He knew Shiro was always an early riser.

 

Shiro smiled, “I only just got here if it helps. Anyway, you’re up early.”

 

“Oh, you bet! I have the whole day planned and I’m buzzing to get started!”

 

Shiro laughed. “Oh yeah? What’s first on your itinerary?”

 

“The beach, of course!” Lance beamed. “Then the boardwalk, then the pizzeria, and then, since we are getting a late start today, it’ll probably be sunset by the time we are getting back to the house so we can come back, grab Keith, and then do another round of the boardwalk. And the beach again too if people feel up to it.”

 

Shiro looked impressed, “I guess Hunk wasn’t exaggerating when he said you were planning our trip like it was your job. I admire the effort you’re putting into all this.”

 

Lance smiled, looking proud of himself. “Never underestimate the Number One Beach Vacation Planner!”

 

A solid hour and a half later, the group was ready to depart. Before leaving though, Lance made his way back upstairs and stepped inside the master bedroom. He sat down on the edge of the bed and couldn’t help but to take a moment to just look at the vampire endearingly. Keith’s eyes were closed, but the hunter knew that he was merely in a shallow sleep.

 

“We’re heading out,” he said.

 

At this, Keith blinked his eyes open –though still bleary with sleep- and he brought himself into a somewhat upright position. “When do you think you’ll be back?”

 

“We’ll come back after dinner so maybe around eight?”

 

Keith nodded.

 

“You know that I’m gonna make you get in the water at some point during this trip, right?” Lance smirked.

 

The other boy just groaned, “I’m _not_ getting in the water. Besides, I told you, I don’t even have a swimsuit anyway.”

 

“Oh, that is not a problem! I figured I’d grab one for you while we are on the boardwalk today. Not a problem at all,” he teased. Keith just squinted at him, as if trying to discern if he was merely joking or if he was actually going to go through with it. Then after a moment, Lance just leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “I’m glad you came with us by the way.”

 

Keith smiled, “Me too. Sorry I can’t go out with you guys though…”

 

“It’s okay! I know you would if you could. I’m just glad you’re here. And we’ll definitely save the best adventures for the night anyway,” he said with a playful wink before his words caught up with him and he couldn’t help but to blush a bit. “Er, that wasn’t supposed to seem promiscuous. Did that come out sounding promiscuous?”

 

Keith snorted, “Not until you brought it up.” The vampire looked at Lance with an amused smile before waving him off. “Now go before the beach fills up with too many people. I’ll see you when you get back tonight.”

 

“Okay, I’ll see you tonight!” Lance smiled, getting up. “Be ready to try on a new swimsuit!”

 

“God please don’t do that,” Keith groaned, letting his head fall back down onto the pillow.

 

But four hours later, Lance was in one of the tiny beach shops along the boardwalk doing just that. He held up two different designs, taking turns lifting one and then the other. “Hunk, how much do you think he’d hate me if I got him one with a cheesy shark teeth design on it? Like, do you think he’d pick up on my joke? And then if so, on a scale from one to ten, how annoyed would he be?”

 

“Yes, I think he’d get it,” Hunk said. “At least after a moment of watching you hold back laughter as he looked at it. And I don’t know. Maybe a solid seven?”

 

Lance hummed in response. “Maybe I’ll be nice and just get him a plain one. Maybe he’d be more likely to get in the water if I do.”

 

“That’s true,” Hunk chuckled. “If you make a bad vampire joke, you can pretty much count on him _not_ wearing it. Especially if he’s already iffy about it in the first place.”

 

“True, true.” Lance looked back between the two in his hands. One was a plain black one and one was a red with black accents. He kept darting his eyes between the two for a few moments more before eventually settling. He put the black one back on the rack.

 

Afterwards was a traditional boardwalk on-the-go lunch. Which included healthy choices such as: giant soft pretzels, funnel cake, and boardwalk fries. And then time in the arcade which resulted in Pidge holding the champion title for their impromptu air hockey tournament.

 

By the time they were seated at the outdoor pizzeria, the sun was already starting to set. Lance swirled his straw around as he spaced out looking at the sunset. He couldn’t help but to think about Keith and hope that he wasn’t too bored being stuck in the house alone all day.

 

“Thinking about your _boyfriend_?” Pidge said playfully, jabbing him gently in the side from their seat next to him.

 

“Hey, nothing wrong with that!” Lance bantered, unsuccessfully hiding his smile.

 

“I’m sure he’s fine. And we’ll be picking him up soon anyway,” they reassured.

 

“Yeah, I know,” Lance smiled. “I just wish he could enjoy the whole day with us, you know?”

 

“I know. But we’ll do plenty of fun things in the evenings too,” Pidge said before their kind smile turned into a teasing look. “We can go to the rides and you two can go on the Ferris Wheel. You can go be romantic clichés together.”

 

Lance rolled his eyes, “Give me a little faith, Pidge. Obviously, I’d wait until Friday so we can ride the Ferris Wheel under the fireworks show.”

 

Pidge couldn’t help but to laugh. “You’re such a nerd!”

 

“Hey, I don’t wanna hear that from you of all people!” Lance bantered back, laughing as well.

 

-

 

Keith lowered his book to glance at the clock, not for the first time. It was past eight so he figured that everyone would be back any time now. Which also meant that the sun was probably set or at least starting to. Curious, he got up and hesitantly peeked through the heavy window curtain. The sun hadn’t completely set, but it was low enough that he couldn’t even really see it. He could only see the warm orange coloring the sky around it.

 

He sighed softly, taking in the sight before deciding to pull the window open and rest his elbows on the windowsill. With his head almost fully out of the window, he breathed in the salty sea air and smiled as a nice breeze blew his hair around. It was definitely still warm out, even as the sky was darkening, but not a temperature that was totally unbearable. He closed his eyes and just enjoyed the moment. His senses were always a bit oversensitive, but at the moment everything that he was feeling was fine and he was content.

 

A few minutes later, he opened his eyes again at the sound of familiar laughter. He smiled as he watched his friends walking towards the house. Lance looked so full of life, gesturing widely with his arms as he told some probably ridiculous story. Hunk was cracking up beside him and Shiro looked like he was trying hard not to burst out laughing as well. Behind them, Pidge, Matt and Allura were all engaged in conversation as well. Matt was talking with a lot of energy so Keith figured it must be something he was really excited about.

 

Keith smiled, loving seeing his friends happy and having a good time. Then he went ahead and leaned back inside, closing the window and curtain behind him.

 

When Lance came in the room not long after, he was carrying a couple of plastic bags. “Hey babe, did you miss me?”

 

Keith smiled, “Only a little.”

 

Lance feigned hurt.

 

“So what did you get?” Keith asked. “I swear if you say a swimsuit…”

 

Lance grinned, looking satisfied. “Yes, I may have gotten you a swimsuit. And I also got…” he paused rummaging through the bags, “A bunch of candy and some shitty prizes from the arcade. Would you like a miniature kaleidoscope?”

 

Keith snorted, “Oh yeah, it’s what I’ve always wanted.” But his amused expression turned into a grumpy look as a pair of red swim trunks were tossed to him. “Why do you even want me to go swimming so badly?”

 

“I just want you to have fun,” Lance said, leaning close and snuggling beside him on the edge of the bed. “And you don’t even have to go swimming if you don’t want to, but at least wear the swim trunks so I can enjoy the sight.” He wiggled his eyebrows as he spoke and Keith couldn’t even fight it –he just burst out laughing.

 

“Oh my god, fine,” he said, laughter still in his voice. “But I don’t want to swim. I don’t know _how_. But I guess I can settle and at least wear the thing to make you happy, you dork.”

 

Lance fell back against the bed and lifted his arms in the air, “Ha! Success!”

 

Keith smirked as he went into the bathroom to get changed. A couple minutes later, he came out wearing the trunks and a black tank top.

 

Lance shot up from the bed, but immediately looked flabbergasted at his boyfriend’s sly move. “Hey! No fair! How am I supposed to see your bare chest when you are covered up?”

 

Keith just shrugged, “You never said I couldn’t wear something else with it.”

 

“Damn,” Lance pouted. But then his eyes widened as the vampire came over and sat on the other boy’s lap. Lance watched silently as his own hands were pulled up under Keith’s tank top. With a sly grin, Keith leaned closer against him and kissed his neck, before gently tracing his fangs against the skin in a play bite.

 

“Maybe I want it for your eyes only,” Keith teased, his breath brushing against Lance’s neck.

 

Lance’s face heat up and he tried to speak a total of three times before he finally said (in a higher pitched voice than usual), “I-I’m okay with that!”

 

Keith laughed and gave Lance a peck on the cheek. “I’m teasing. I just would rather be more covered if we are walking around the shops and whatnot too. Unless you are going to _actually_ be heartbroken that I’m wearing a fucking shirt.”

 

Lance tried to regain his dignity after getting a little too excited. He cleared his throat, “Nah, I don’t mind. I was honestly just joking before, but damn, you win that round.” He laughed.

 

Before Keith could say anything else though, there was a knock on the door.

 

“Hey, are you guys coming out or are you doing things that I don’t want to open this door for?” Hunk asked.

 

“Yeah, we’ll be out in a second!” Lance replied, before turning back to Keith. “You ready to head out?”

 

“Yeah, I’m ready. Just don’t let me forget my food before we leave.”

 

“Roger that!”

 

As they left the house, Keith couldn’t help but to be excited to get to spend the night out with friends on vacation. Being stuck in the house all day wasn’t the worst, but he was definitely happy to get to go out with everyone. Going outside in a tank top, swim trucks, and flip flops felt really foreign to him, but he was welcoming a lot of new feelings and experiences lately. A lot of them were strange to him, but also, in a way, made him feel more human.

 

Their first stop when they arrived at the boardwalk was a snow cone truck. Everyone got in line and Keith was already stepping to the side when Lance surprised him by asking, “Do you want one?”  

 

The vampire furrowed his brows a bit, confused why Lance would ask. Perhaps it was just out of politeness, but it still seemed odd.

 

“I…” Keith began, “You know how well my other ‘taste tests’ have gone with food. I think we just have to figure that nothing is going to be an exception.”

 

Lance hummed, a knowing smile was on his face, which only confused Keith even more. “Yeah, but this is a snow cone. Like, it’s just ice –just _water_. I mean, plus the flavoring syrup, but you don’t even need to get that part.”

 

“So… you are asking if I want to eat a cup of ice?”

 

“I mean, that’s what the rest of us are doing,” Lance chuckled.

 

Keith considered that. He wasn’t wrong. If there were any foods that he could eat, Lance was probably right that it would be something that was literally just water. He looked at the snow cone truck and then back at Lance’s expectant smile.

 

“Um,” he paused, still debating before finally saying, “Okay, yeah, I’ll try one.”

 

Lance’s smile widened as he exclaimed, “Aw yeah!” Then, with excitement, he pulled Keith by the hand over to the truck. When it was their turn in line, Lance quickly glanced between a couple of the flavors before quickly deciding. “I’ll take one mango and one just plain please.”

 

The worker in the truck window raised an eyebrow at the order, but just shrugged and made their frozen treats. Lance took them and handed the plain one to Keith. The vampire took it with both hands and just stared at it for a moment. This was _his_. Lance got food for him. Food at he could actually _eat_. He couldn’t take his eyes off of the Styrofoam cup even as Lance gently guided him from the truck and towards where the rest of the group was already chowing down. They were all hanging around the low wall separating the boardwalk from the sandy beach.

 

It was Shiro who looked up and, with a soft smile, asked, “You all right there, Keith?”

 

Pidge, sitting on top of the wall, looked up as well and laughed good-naturedly. “Yeah, you look like you’re buffering or something.”

 

“I… I can eat this,” Keith said, only half aware he was speaking aloud.

 

Lance laughed a little, “Yeah, you can. You wanna try it?”

 

Keith just nodded eagerly before slowly taking the white, plastic spoon and taking a scoop. Everyone watched with big smiles as Keith hesitantly put the spoonful into his mouth. However, a second later, he broke out into a coughing fit and instinctively reached up to his throat. It didn’t seem like he was choking, but a coughing fit still wasn’t an expected reaction. Lance quickly reached over and pat the other boy’s back with some force for a moment until the coughing subsided.

 

“You all right?” Lance asked with concern.

 

Shiro chimed in as well, “Was it the texture throwing you off? Did you eat it too fast?”

 

Keith considered Shiro’s theories before saying, “I don’t know. It just felt… weird, I guess? Bad? I thought I was going to choke or something…”

 

“Well, I’m assuming that you haven’t actually eaten anything that wasn’t a liquid in… well, about eight years,” Shiro said, his expression falling as his own words registered.

 

Keith rubbed his thumb idly against the side of the cup, his gaze lowered. “I guess it has been that long, hasn’t it…”

 

“It was probably a bit of an unfamiliar sensation, but not one that you can’t get used to again. As long as you feel comfortable, I’m sure it won’t be as bad the second time and even easier the time after that,” Shiro offered.

 

Keith nodded. He was so excited to be able to eat with everyone else, he was determined to make it happen. And Shiro was right. It wasn’t as bad the second time. Though it still felt a bit strange. Allura suggested breaking it up some more so it went down smoother and, despite Keith initially being stubborn and just wanting eat it normally, he eventually decided it was worth a try and it actually did help.

 

And after that initial bump in the road, it actually began to feel somewhat normal (if not still a bit unfamiliar). He may have been the last one to finish, but he still got to eat with everyone. He couldn’t believe that he got to _eat with everyone._

But as good as that was, it wasn’t the same as _his_ food. And after all of that, he was craving some food of his own. Keith swung his drawstring bag around to pull his water bottle out and then happily took a sip. In terms of taste at least, for him, there was no competition.

 

-

 

After the snow cones, they walked down to the very end of the boardwalk talking all the while and making a few occasional stops in the small shops. On their way back towards the direction of the house, however, Lance had an idea. He waited until they were about halfway back before he invited Keith to walk with him on the beach for the rest of the way.

 

Lance hid his small giggle as Keith very hesitantly stepped onto the sand, as though it was going to bite his feet. The vampire looked a bit bewildered as he adjusted to the sensation of walking barefoot in the sand. But to Lance, the sand between his toes felt so familiar and comfortable.

 

They walked down the beach towards where the waves were brushing against the shore. By this point in the night, it was quiet and nearly empty. Lance let the cool waves wash up against his feet and smiled. Keith smiled too as he watched Lance in his environment. The two held hands and walked along the shore.

 

“You really like the beach,” Keith chuckled.

 

“Yeah,” Lance said, “It’s always been my favorite place to visit. Maybe it’s from going to the beach so much growing up or something, but it just feels like my second home, you know? And I have so many good memories here.”

 

“It shows,” Keith smiled, “I’m pretty sure you haven’t stopped smiling since we got here. Maybe since we left the apartment.”

 

Lance hummed with a bright smile. “Are you enjoying yourself? I’m hoping that maybe you can make some fun beach memories here too.”

 

“Yeah, it’s nice. It’s…” Keith furrowed his brows, trying to find the words, “…different? But in a good way. Like, I felt like a beach would be somewhere where I had no place being, but it’s nice, being with everyone.”

 

Lance smiled. “See? I told you that the whole vampire thing shouldn’t stop you from doing things like this. Accommodations need to be made, sure. But it’s totally doable!”

 

Keith laughed a little, amused. “Yeah, you were right.”

 

Lance leaned in dramatically with a big grin. “What was that? Could you say that a little louder? I missed what you said.”

 

Keith shoved him playfully, “Oh, shut up.”

 

A comfortable silence passed between them for a while until Keith gave Lance’s hand a small squeeze. The hunter looked up, but his smile fell when he saw that the other boy was no longer smiling.

 

“What’s wrong?” Lance asked.

 

“I just…” he began, “Do you remember back when we were at the hunter’s Headquarters? When we were in that basement.”

 

Lance couldn’t help but to get nervous as to where the question was headed. “I try not to, but yeah.”

 

“Do you remember how you felt bad? How you thought that me getting in that… situation was somehow your fault?” They both stopped walking. Keith continued, “I just… I just really want you to know that I would never blame you for anything happening to me. I would never regret being with you. Never. If I had been killed by the organization back then, I still wouldn’t regret being with you and falling in love with you and…” he trailed off. “I guess what I’m trying to say is that you’ve already saved my life. I mean, literally, yeah you definitely have. But also, like, in the sense that you’ve made me so happy. Happier than I ever thought I could be again –happier than I ever _have_ been. And you do so much for me. You brush things off like it’s no trouble, but I know that it takes effort. And it means so much, more than I can even try to say. So, thank you. For everything you’ve done and everything you do. For taking me in despite having had no reason to trust me. For trusting me again and again and for being my friend and for loving me and for never giving up on me. And just, thank you, Lance. For everything.”

 

Lance stared at the other for a moment, at a loss for words. He wasn’t sure what brought Keith to those thoughts and there was so much to say in response to that he wasn’t sure where to even begin. He wanted to reassure him, to tell him it’s okay, to tell him that he has made him so incredibly happy too, to tell him that he doesn’t realize all that he does for him too, and to thank him and tell him that he loves him. But before he could even tame the mess of words jumbled in his head, his actions spoke first and he leaned in and gripped the boy in a tight hug. He squeezed him as though he were afraid he was going to disappear if he let go for a second.

 

He felt Keith’s arms reach up and squeeze him in the embrace as well. Lance sighed softly, still not even loosening his hold on the other. “You always talk like you are a burden on me. I don’t know when I’m going to finally be able to convince you that you aren’t. You’ve changed my life too, you’ve helped me too, you’ve done so much for me and you make me so happy every day. Please don’t ever feel like you are a burden. I will never regret taking you in that night. Never for a second. As cheesy as it is to say, I can’t imagine my life without you. I love you so much. Please don’t ever forget that.”

 

“I love you too, Lance,” Keith said, squeezing him tighter. “I love you so much.”

 

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the chapter! :) The boys (and everyone honestly) really deserved a nice, happy vacation. And I do have a lot of fun writing cute, cheesy scenes. Be prepared though, the angst is coming. :3c  
>   
> Twitter: [@kurisu_kuma](https://twitter.com/kurisu_kuma).


End file.
